Help in Indiana
For people starting over after prison, foster care, treatment, homelessness, abuse, or trafficking
We've verified 26 places in Indiana, most of them in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and Evansville, plus 13 that serve the whole state. The most help we've found here is for people after prison or jail (14) and leaving homelessness (14).
Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Statewide coalition that does not run its own shelter but connects survivors anywhere in Indiana to the nearest local domestic violence program. Call the 24/7 hotline or search the member program directory on the site.
Indiana 211
Free statewide referral line run by FSSA that points Hoosiers to shelter, food, utility help, treatment, and peer recovery support. Dial 211 or text your ZIP code to be matched with resources near you.
IDOC Reentry Services
IDOC's reentry arm covers Case Plan Credit Time, programming eligibility, and the Hoosier Initiative for Reentry (HIRE), which lines up employment resources and skills training for people coming home from state prison. Program access starts inside through your assigned case manager.
Older Youth Services (Collaborative Care, Chafee ETV, Voluntary Services)
DCS runs Indiana's extended foster care (Collaborative Care, ages 18 to 21), independent living services from age 16, Chafee Education and Training Vouchers, and Voluntary Services up to the day before your 23rd birthday. Questions go to the Older Youth Initiatives team by phone or email.
Foster Success
Indianapolis nonprofit that backs teens and young adults leaving foster care through the Education and Training Voucher program, Opportunity Passport matched savings, vital document help, dorm funding, career coaching, and the Indiana Foster Youth Alliance. Applications are submitted through the programs page.
Indiana Refugee Services
State office that administers refugee cash and medical assistance and employment services for refugees, Ukrainian and Afghan arrivals, Cuban and Haitian entrants, and certified victims of human trafficking. Benefits are applied for through the FSSA Benefits Portal; resettlement agencies handle case support.
Exodus Refugee Immigration
Indianapolis resettlement agency serving refugees, asylum seekers, and Haitian and Cuban entrants with immigration legal intakes twice a week, help with asylum, green cards, work permits and citizenship, plus employment and household support. Walk in weekdays or call ahead.
Catholic Charities Refugee & Immigrant Services – Fort Wayne
The state-designated resettlement agency for northeast Indiana, handling arrival services and the Afghan and Ukrainian placement programs for newcomers settling in Fort Wayne. Contact details below are as listed on the FSSA refugee services page.
Wheeler Mission Shelter for Men
Downtown Indianapolis emergency shelter with meals for men. No appointment is needed; check in by 9:30 p.m. at the guest entrance on Wabash St. behind the building, with exceptions made for first-time guests arriving later.
Wheeler Mission Center for Women & Children
East-side Indianapolis shelter providing beds and meals for single women and women with children. Beds are assigned over the phone as space opens, so call before coming.
Horizon House
Day center for adults experiencing homelessness in Marion County, offering essential needs, peer support, case management, an employment program, and a path into housing, with a street outreach team covering every quadrant of the county. Open six days a week with evening hours Tuesday and Thursday.
PACE (Public Advocates in Community Re-Entry)
Indianapolis reentry agency that works with anyone carrying a felony conviction, regardless of how old it is, on employment and stability, and places participants with employers seeking full- and part-time workers.
project.ME
Fort Wayne recovery support organization staffed by certified peers who have lived through addiction and justice involvement. Coaches help with harm reduction supplies, treatment options, support groups, health coverage, SNAP, and replacing identification documents; a drop-in center and street outreach are part of the work. It is the state-designated Regional Recovery Hub for Allen and surrounding counties.
Indiana Legal Services
Free civil legal aid for low-income Hoosiers statewide, including expungements and specialized driving privileges but not criminal defense. Apply by phone Monday through Thursday from 10 to 2 or online around the clock on weekdays.
Ascent 121
Central Indiana provider of residential care (Impact Program, ages 12 to 18) and community-based clinical treatment for teen survivors of sex trafficking and exploitation. Reach the team by phone or email to discuss a referral.
Indiana Trafficking Victims Assistance Program (ITVAP)
Statewide network that funds and coordinates services for trafficking and sexual exploitation survivors age 24 and under through regional coalition coordinators and 26 Youth Service Bureaus. Suspected trafficking of a minor is reported to the Indiana DCS hotline; adults can call the national hotline.
Indiana Division of Vital Records
Issues certified Indiana birth certificates by mail, phone, or online; there is no state walk-in counter, so the fastest route is the local health department in the county where you were born. A birth certificate costs $10 and requires photo ID or two secondary documents such as a DOC ID card and Social Security card.
Indiana BMV Identification Card
State photo ID for Indiana residents who do not hold a driver's license. The fee is $9, and it is waived for U.S. citizens 18 or older who are eligible to vote. Bring proof of identity, lawful status, Social Security number, and two proofs of Indiana residency to any branch.
FSSA Benefits Portal (SNAP, Medicaid, TANF)
Indiana's single online application for SNAP, Medicaid, and TANF cash assistance, run by the Division of Family Resources. Apply at the portal or at a local DFR office; the benefits information line answers questions about existing cases.
We Bloom Recovery Café
Membership-based recovery community space in downtown Indianapolis where people recovering from addiction, mental health challenges, or homelessness share meals, recovery circles, and peer connection. Join by attending a Coffee Hour or through the Become a Member page.
THRIVE Recovery Community Organization
Peer-run recovery community organization with offices in New Albany, Jeffersonville, and Indianapolis offering free peer recovery coaching, jail and reentry support, Narcan access, street outreach, and rides to appointments. It serves as the state Regional Recovery Hub for a 17-county region that includes Marion County.
The Julian Center
Central Indiana's largest domestic violence agency, with emergency shelter, legal services, advocacy, self-sufficiency programming, and youth enrichment for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. The crisis line is answered around the clock.
YWCA Northeast Indiana Domestic Violence Services
Fort Wayne-based program running Bonnie's House crisis shelter for individuals and families fleeing domestic violence, plus community advocacy, counseling, support groups, and children's services across six northeast Indiana counties. Help starts with the 24/7 crisis line.
Albion Fellows Bacon Center
Evansville agency offering free, confidential crisis intervention, emergency shelter, advocacy, and support groups to survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, human trafficking, and stalking, including their children and pets, across eleven southwest Indiana counties. Two 24-hour hotlines, one for domestic violence and one for sexual violence.
Evansville Rescue Mission
Residence Center shelter in downtown Evansville with daily showers, laundry, belongings storage, case management, and P.A.C.E.S. recovery programming for guests, plus a Centennial Center day shelter. Three free meals a day are open to anyone in the public.
The Rescue Mission – Fort Wayne
Faith-based shelter network in Fort Wayne providing emergency, short-term, and long-term housing for men in a homeless crisis, and housing for women and children through Charis House at 5920 Decatur Road (260-426-8123). Free public meals are served at 7 a.m., noon, and 5 p.m. every day.
National lines that work in Indiana
SAMHSA National Helpline
Free, confidential treatment referral for substance use and mental health. Finds local programs that take your insurance or none.
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Call or text 988 for any mental health or substance use crisis. Available to anyone in any program.
Lifeline free phone program
Free or discounted phone and service for people on Medicaid, SNAP, SSI, or low income. Apply online or through a carrier.
National Human Trafficking Hotline
24/7 confidential hotline for survivors of trafficking and people who suspect it. Connects to vetted local services.
National Domestic Violence Hotline
24/7 confidential help for anyone affected by domestic violence. Advocates connect you to local shelters and legal help.
Start right where you are
Each program has a step-by-step checklist for the first 72 hours, 30 days, and 90 days, so you always know your next step.