A former Indianapolis elementary school will shelter as many as 40 families who are homeless this winter as part of a city program that aims to ensure all residents can sleep indoors on frigid nights.

The building, once home to Susan Leach School 68 on the east side at 2107 N. Riley Ave., will open Dec. 15 as an overflow shelter as part of the city’s Winter Contingency Plan, according to a city press release. From Nov. 1 through the end of March, the program puts people in shelter spaces that aren’t available during warmer months.

Indianapolis Public Schools hasn’t hosted instruction at School 68 since 2009 and uses the building as storage space. The facility has served as shelter space in past years when Wheeler Mission, the city’s largest shelter provider, saw a surge in need during the pandemic.

“The families will be housed in pods of four, but we do have the ability to accommodate larger families,” said Andrew Merkley, the director of homelessness and eviction prevention for Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration. “They’ll be in the gymnasium but also in the classrooms there at the school. We’ll utilize the cafeteria for food.”

More: Freezing cold is here. Where to stay warm and find overnight shelter in Indianapolis.

Brian Crispin, Wheeler Mission’s senior director of community relations and development, said his organization’s Center for Women and Children downtown has room for 30 families year-round.

Last winter, however, the center packed in 40 more families who came to Wheeler Mission in need of emergency shelter. The School 68 shelter opening next week is a better solution for those families, Crispin said.

“When we reach numbers that we were seeing in the past couple of years,” Crispin said, “we weren’t able to operate in ways that were helpful to our guests.”

As of this week, Wheeler Mission is sheltering about 660 people in Indianapolis, according to Crispin. The organization doesn’t track the exact number of guests in families, but a 2024 citywide count included 421 adults and children in homeless families. About 1,700 people were homeless overall.

Until School 68 opens, the city is paying for 37 families to stay in hotel rooms to get out of the cold, Merkley said. The money comes from the city’s $578,000 contribution to this winter’s contingency plan. Merkley expects many of those families will move to the School 68 shelter once it opens.

Merkley said School 68 is a solution only for this winter, and it’s unclear whether the city will open additional shelter space for families. The city of Indianapolis will open a year-round low-barrier shelter on the southeast side by 2027, with 20 units reserved for families of four.

Aspire Indiana Health, a community health provider in Indianapolis, will lead the overflow shelter at School 68, providing medical services and case management to homeless families.

Homelessness: New Indianapolis program offers free overnight parking to people living in their cars

How families who are homeless can find shelter

To find shelter this winter, families can call the Mayor’s Action Center at 317-327-4622 during regular business hours, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The city’s Office of Public Health Health and Safety is working with HealthNet’s Homeless Initiative Program and local trustee offices to place families in emergency shelter. Call HealthNet for an appointment at 317-957-2275.

How Indianapolis pays for Winter Contingency Plan

The roughly $1.5 million winter contingency plan is funded by multiple sources, including $750,000 from the Lilly Endowment, $578,000 in taxpayer money from the city, $50,000 from The Indianapolis Foundation, $50,000 from United Way of Central Indiana and more than $63,000 from the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention.

Email IndyStar Housing, Growth and Development Reporter Jordan Smith at JTsmith@gannett.com. Follow him on X: @jordantsmith09

The Indianapolis Colts are about to set off on a critical four-game stretch to make or break their playoff aspirations for this season. Yet, despite the high stakes, some are beginning to look ahead to how this offseason could pan out for this roster that has a few needs on both sides of the ball.

So far this season, the Colts have ranked 23rd in the NFL for total offensive yards, and 29th for total defensive yards. While Indianapolis is lucky enough to be positioned for a potential late-season postseason push, it’s clear this roster still has work to do all around, especially for a select few positions.

However, in CBS Sports and Ryan Wilson’s latest mock draft, the Colts go in a direction that could be a bit surprising when considering the current state of the roster.

Rather than going for a glaring position of need many project Indianapolis to target like tight end or secondary help, CBS Sports has the Colts selecting neither with the 14th-overall pick, going with a talented Georgia edge/off-ball linebacker, Jalon Walker, instead– who Ryan Wilson had some significant praise for.

“Jalon Walker is listed as an off-ball linebacker, but he can line up anywhere … and wreak havoc from anywhere,” Wilson said. “Very interested to see how NFL teams plan to use him at the next level.”

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Walker has had an impressive year with the Bulldogs, posting a career-high in sacks (6.5) and tackles (58), putting his defensive versatility on full display as a 6-foot-2, 245 pound linebacker.

For the Colts, it would be the second first-round pick in a row for which they address the defensive side, pairing with their selection of UCLA’s Laiatu Latu in 2024. So far, Latu has held up his end of a steep draft stock as an impactful piece of the front seven, but if Indianapolis wants to bolster that part of the defense once again, Walker is far from a bad option.

The selection of Walker in this mock places him over other popular Indianapolis mock picks like tight end Colston Loveland, and cornerback Shavon Revel Jr.– both being at positions general manager Chris Ballard and Co. could look at heavily once April rolls around.

On the flip side, if a player at another impact position like Walker emerges highly on the Colts’ draft board, don’t be shocked to see this be the direction that comes to fruition once Indianapolis comes on the clock.

Thankfully, the Colts and their front office have a ton of time before a decision becomes final for their first-round pick. Four months sit between now and when Indianapolis makes their official selection, as the NFL draft kicks off in Green Bay on April 24th.

Want more Colts content? Check out the latest episode of the Horseshoe Huddle Podcast!

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New Purdue football coach Barry Odom will soon be paid more than any Boilermakers coach before him. 

Odom agreed to a six-year deal worth at least $39 million, per a memorandum of understanding the school released Tuesday. Coaches are typically eligible for performance and academic bonuses which could increase that value. Odom’s base salary for his first two seasons is $6 million per, then rises $250,000 each year for years 3 and 4, before going to $7 million in year 5 and $7.25 million in the final year of the deal.

Also not yet available is the assistant coach salary pool which Odom will use to assemble his first staff. Previous coach Ryan Walters was contractually entitled to up to $5.5 million for 10 assistants and one strength and conditioning coach.

More Purdue football: What Barry Odom told Boilers at first team meeting

Purdue must also pay the $3 million buyout Odom owes UNLV for backing out of the contract extension he signed earlier this year. 

Odom becomes the highest-paid coach on campus, surpassing Matt Painter’s guarantee of $4.85 million for 2024-25. Former football coach Jeff Brohm, whose departure to Louisville in December 2022 prompted Purdue to hire Walters, was paid $5.1 million for his final season. He was due to make $5.4 million in 2025. 

Odom signed a five-year contract extension with UNLV last spring following his breakthrough first season. That guaranteed him at least $1.75 million for the 2024 season, increasing to at least $2.4 million for 2028. He was also due his first of three potential retention bonuses of $200,000 in March 2026. 

UNLV athletic director Erick Harper said earlier this week he wanted to make a competitive counter-offer to retain Odom, but could not.

“That’s a hard number to reach,” Harper said Sunday, without disclosing the amount, “but we did look at it in full detail. The Big Ten’s — they’ve got a big, deep pocket.”

Walters, a first-time head coach, agreed to a five-year deal to become Purdue’s coach prior to the 2023 season. He made $4.05 million for this past season, and was scheduled for a $50,000 increase in each of the next three seasons. Per his contract, Purdue must pay him 75% of his salary to buy out those remaining three years — $9.3375 million — plus $253,125 for the current month. 

Walters’ 2024 salary ranked 16^th out of 17 Big Ten public schools, per the USA Today coaching salary database. (Information on Northwestern is unavailable.) Odom’s new salary would have ranked 15^th.

However, Purdue’s head coach salary has since been surpassed for 2025 by IU’s Curt Cignetti. Originally hired on a $4.25 million annual deal, Cignetti received a contract extension with an average annual value of $8 million for leading the Hoosiers to double-digit victories and the College Football Playoff. Cignetti’s new contract stipulates $11 million per year for “on-field staff salary and support pool.”

Purdue administrators surely hope Odom’s success also forces them to revisit this initial deal one year from now.