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Penn Place opens to house Indy's homeless

Posted at 9:17 PM, Apr 05, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-06 10:06:31-04

INDIANAPOLIS -- After spending many cold, hungry nights on the streets, some homeless people now have brand new apartments.

Tuesday was the grand opening of Penn Place – a facility designed to give them a fresh start and a chance at self-sufficiency.

Brookie Reed is one of Penn's Place's new tenants. Before getting the apartment, the 48-year-old was homeless for three years.

"I'm just thankful I have somewhere to go to and put all my stuff," Reed said. "Don't have to carry all these bags around. I can't thank them enough. They did an awesome job."

Penn Place has 38 apartments like Reed's. With an estimated 5,000 homeless people in Indianapolis, there is a need for them.

Michele White is also off the streets after a period of homelessness.

"My nights were terrifying," she said. "I was out there by myself. Being a single female in the downtown area was frightening."

Private, city, state and federal money was used to fund the project. Eskenazi Health and Midtown Community Mental Health have an office inside the building to assist residents.

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