New housing project looks to combat homelessness INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indianapolis housing advocates will celebrate a ribbon-cutting on a Permanent Supportive Housing project Wednesday afternoon, just east of downtown. The building is called Compass on Washington and it’s a partnership between Horizon House, the Englewood Community Development Corporation and local developers. City leaders hope it’s a key step to address homelessness. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says Permanent Supportive Housing is a model of assistance where housing and social support services are provided to households struggling with stability. Compass on Washington has 36 fully furnished one-bedroom apartments. Residents will be connected to various social services through Horizon House. The project received funding from low-income housing tax credits from the Indiana Housing Authority and a few other grants. CEO Teresa Wessel says having everything under one roof allows them to better serve the people who need it the most. “We’re excited about it being a one project,” Wessel said. “We can do art therapy, yoga — we have the Bookmobile. We’re really trying to wrap all the services around the tenants that are gonna be living here.” The project broke ground in November 2022. Englewood CDC will serve as property management. Executive Director Joe Bowling says it’s been an almost five-year process to get to this point. “This fits in with the work that we’ve done, we can’t be more excited to watch residents move in,” Bowling said. “We feel like we’ve got a great building loaded with amenities, inside and out. [It’s a] great location.” The 36 units are already filled by people who have previously been identified by Horizon House through the various outreach services they provide. The building comes with many amenities seen in new developments, like a dog park, in-unit laundry and a community room. Horizon House Director of Housing Lillian Herbers-Kelly says each apartment will be able to be personalized. “We’re really excited to offer furnishings that are new and comfortable,” Herbers-Kelly said. “There’s a lot of storage opportunity in here as well … We’re very excited to be able to offer that as people move in and get comfortable and make this place home.” The goal is to have residents move in sometime next week.