There used to be a holiday tradition in Precious Sarver’s home. Two Christmas trees. One for her, one for the kids.

This year, there’s only one tree.

It cost $5 at the dollar store. And it’s sitting on a table in the family’s eastside hotel room, where they’ve been living for more than a month.

“I do everything right,” Sarver said through tears, “and I end up here.”

Sarver, 46, said she and her three children had no choice after a landlord forced them out in hopes of charging more in rent to the next tenant.

Sarver spent some time looking for another place to live, but even the search is expensive. She estimated spending a couple hundred dollars just on application fees. The housing search became even more difficult after the death of her mother.

Now, Sarver is paying $343 each week for the hotel room. There are two full beds, an air mattress, TV, fridge and microwave.

“Look where I’m at,” she said. “I never would’ve thought in a million years that I’d be homeless.”

Sarver has already told her kids that Christmas will have to wait this year. That was after not being able to make them a Thanksgiving meal.

But the tree wasn’t optional. It’s an all-white miniature version, sharing table space with boxes of cereal and paper plates. The family loves the holiday season. Her oldest son counts down the days until B105.7 FM starts playing Christmas music.

“We do the Christmas thing,” Sarver said.

The only thing missing from the tree is ornaments. Those are sitting in one of the two storage units that Sarver is paying $180 for each month.

‘I can’t be the only one’

Sarver said she’s not the only one struggling at the hotel. There’s a mother with five or six kids, and another woman who just gave birth.

“I can’t be the only one,” she said. “I gotta imagine older people going through this is insane.”

They’re part of what homelessness advocates sometimes call the “hidden homeless.” They live out of their cars or double up with friends and family. Or, in Sarver’s case, they end up in an extended-stay hotel.

“Most of the people that clean this place live here with their kids,” she said.

Even outside of the hotel, Sarver can see the extent of the homelessness crisis in Indianapolis. There’s a woman who sits in the cold with a blanket, Sarver said, and no socks.

“So I stopped and gave her a McChicken,” she said. “I don’t have anything else.”

‘I know God’s got a plan’

Sarver said she takes pride in doing the right thing: paying bills on time, helping others, volunteering at a local school.

Things only got worse for Sarver’s family when she accidentally dropped $520 in the hotel hallway.

Security footage shows a man picking it up and walking away.

“That was my phone bill, food money, gas,” she said.

That money also could have helped Sarver cover a security deposit, which she said is one of the biggest obstacles between her family and a home. Plus, Sarver has a nerve condition in both legs that requires her to use a cane, so finding a home isn’t only about money. She also needs something accessible.

Sarver collects about $1,900 a month in disability payments between her and her youngest son, who has special needs. And she gets help paying rent through the Indianapolis Housing Agency’s Section 8 program.

But the program doesn’t help with a security deposit.

For that, Sarver said she’d need to come up with about $1,700.

It’s hard to see where that money will come from.

“But I know God’s got a plan,” she said. “It’s gotta be something else for us.”

Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.

Mirror Indy reporter Tyler Fenwick covers housing and labor. Contact him at 317-766-1406 or tyler.fenwick@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @ty_fenwick and Bluesky @tyfenwick.bsky.social.

Related

In July, former quarterback Philip Rivers was asked if he could still play an NFL game, during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show.

“Oh yeah. I’m a little heavier than I was, but I could get through a game,” Rivers replied, adding with a laugh. “Now, I may need a wheelchair the next morning.”

But now the sports world is absorbing the news that Rivers, a grandfather at age 44, has signed a practice contract with the Indianapolis Colts. The team recently lost its starting quarterback, Daniel Jones, for the rest of the season, due to injury, endangering its playoff hopes.

Here are some key numbers that provide some context into Rivers’ return:

21: Years since Rivers’ first season.

“I mean, that’s pretty ridiculous to think,” says Seth Wickersham, a senior writer at ESPN. But Wickersham also says the idea of Rivers returning isn’t as wild as it sounds.

Rivers doesn’t have the speed of younger athletes, but that was never part of his game. But what Rivers does have, Wickersham says, is a very particular set of skills.

“Against, you know, all logic, sanity and reason, the NFL has kind of become an old man’s game for quarterbacks.”

For one thing, veterans like Rivers have proven they can quickly understand game situations. And today’s quarterbacks don’t get hit as much, if they stay in the pocket rather than scramble around. This season, similar circumstances allowed another 40-something quarterback, Joe Flacco, to return to the NFL to help the Cincinnati Bengals after Joe Burrow was injured.

10: Children in Philip and Tiffany Rivers’ family. On Wednesday, Rivers said they’re thrilled, nervous and a bit surprised about the idea of him playing in the NFL again.

“My 6-year-old actually asked me like 4 months ago, like, ‘Dad, why don’t you play anymore?’ ” Rivers said in a news conference. “And I’m like, ‘Hey, I’m sorry. The best you’re gonna get is me coaching on the sideline.’ “

8: Pro Bowl appearances for Rivers, who maintained elite stats while spending most of his career with the Chargers, from 2004 until 2019. (The team moved from San Diego to Los Angeles in 2017.)

5: Years of a waiting before a Hall of Fame induction. With his strong résumé, Rivers “was always going to get in on what’s called the first ballot, which is the first year that he’s eligible,” Wickersham says. If Rivers joins the active roster, his Hall of Fame candidacy would reset.

0: Number of playoff appearances by the Colts since Rivers spent the 2020 season with the team following the surprise retirement of Andrew Luck. Indianapolis reached the playoffs with Rivers, but lost to the Buffalo Bills in January 2021.

240: Consecutive regular season starts by Rivers, the second most for any quarterback. It’s a sign of both stamina and smarts, Wickersham says: “You don’t play football for that many games in a row if you’re getting hit all the time.”

14: Current Colts players that Rivers says were on the team when he was last there.

“The teammates that I was able to play with, shoot, 14 of them are still here,” he said on Wednesday. “Training room is the same. PR guys are the same. Equipment room is the same. They wanted me. I try to keep it as simple as that.”

32: Number of NFL starting quarterbacks. And during his career, not many of them could do what Rivers did — and might still do.

“There’s 16,000 starting quarterbacks in high school every year. There’s 858 in college at the highest level,” Wickersham says. “There’s 32 starters in the NFL. There’s 10 good ones and there’s three great ones, give or take, in a year.”

“There are very few guys like Philip Rivers,” he adds. “So if anyone can come off of the street and deliver a couple of wins and help this team make the playoffs, he’s one of the few guys that could do it.”

2: The number of Indianapolis star athletes who have torn their Achilles tendons this year, at key moments. First there was the Indiana Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton, knocked out of Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Months later, the Colts lost starting quarterback Daniel Jones — who had already been “playing through” a broken fibula.

“It’s just another stinging moment for Indianapolis sports,” says Samantha Horton, of member station WFYI.

For the city’s fans, she says, “I think some of them are just hopeful that … a dream of even seeing the playoffs can remain alive this year.”

For the Colts, that dream might depend on what Rivers can still do.

“It’s been heartbreaking for this to happen to Indy fans especially after the Pacers’ run,” Colts fan Grace Branson says. “The Colts were off to a great and hopeful start. I’m glad that Rivers is familiar with this offense so it gives me some hope and confidence for the rest of the season.”

WFYI’s Samantha Horton contributed to this story.

Philip Rivers has joined the Indianapolis Colts’ practice squad in the wake of injuries to Daniel Jones, Riley Leonard and Anthony Richardson. Leonard (knee) is questionable for NFL Week 15 against the Seattle Seahawks is uncertain, while Jones (Achilles) and Richardson (eye) are out. Brett Rypien is also on the practice squad.

Here are a dozen numbers related to the new Colts quarterback.

Philip Rivers by the numbers

• 63,440: Career passing yards for Philip Rivers, 7th most in NFL history. The Rams’ Matthew Stafford is 277 yards behind Rivers.
• 2026: Year Philip Rivers is eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame (he is a semifinalist). If Rivers is signed to the active roster, that clock resets. Players must be 5 years removed from being active to be considered for the Hall.
• 1,800: Days from Jan. 9, 2021 — the last time Philip Rivers played — and Sunday, Dec. 14, when the Colts visit the Seattle Seahawks.
• 421: Career touchdown passes for Philip Rivers, 6th most in NFL history.
• 44: Philip Rivers’ age; he’s older than Colts coach Shane Steichen (40).
• 23: Age of Philip Rivers’ oldest daughter, Halle.
• 23: Age of Colts quarterback Riley Leonard.
• 17: Philip Rivers’ NFL seasons, from 2004-20.
• 10: Number of children Philip Rivers has.
• 4: 44-year-olds to start at QB in the NFL — Tom Brady, Vinny Testaverde, Warren Moon, Steve DeBerg.
• 2: Weeks removed from coaching high school football for Philip Rivers.
• 1: Number of grandchildren Philip Rivers has.

Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.