Make a one-time donation, become a Sustainer, or purchase needed items directly from our wish list to be sent to the Indianapolis Liberation Center for our assemblies and distributions.
Hope Packages: Struggle, Unity, Solidarity is a direct political-aid program providing necessary resources to people who are struggling in communities across our city. Organized around a 10-Point Program, Hope Packages is about more than caring: it’s about struggling together, uniting, and building the solidarity needed to transform Indianapolis.
The idea for Hope Packages was born during the successful struggle to defeat anti-homeless ordinance Prop. 291. Initially founded as a collaboration between Indy10 Black Lives Matter and PSL Indianapolis in January 2021, it has been an independent organization sponsored by the Indianapolis Liberation Center since October 2023.
Support and Donate!
We rely on volunteers and community support to keep Hope Packages operating at and expanding our capacity. That depends on the support we get from everyone and anyone concerned about our unhoused and homeless neighbors. Interested in supporting our project?
- Donations: Make a financial contribution as a one-time donation or on a monthly basis!
- Wishlist: You can visit our Amazon wish list to see what your neighbors need right now!
- Partnering: If you want to partner on another solidarity project, email us at info@indyhopepackages.org!
Latest Updates
- Feed the people: Hope Packages distribution at Garfield Park
- Hope Packages speaks out on the struggle over public education
- Knitting our way to unity
- Hope Packages and the legacy of the Black Panther Party’s survival programs
- Training: Helping loved ones in chaotic use
- Hope Packages, advancing the Black Panther Party’s 10-Point Program
Why Hope Packages?
Hope Packages’ 10-Point Program for a better Indianapolis is a set of demands we can actualize under the current system. Volunteers and members do not need to agree on each and every one of these points. All you need to be part of Hope Packages is to share our one foundational belief: All people deserve to be safe and healthy.
This belief entails broader political transformations, however. Our 10-Point Program outlines a list of demands and a vision for a new Indianapolis that can be met easily and immediately realized to achieve this goal and address the root cause of homelessness. You can see the demands on this page and read the full 10-Point Program here!
1. End Gentrification
2. Build Public Housing
3. Make Housing Accessible
4. Free Education for All
5. End All Food Deserts
6. Make Housing a Human Right
7. Implement a Living Wage and Close All Loopholes
8. Expand Public Space
9. Protect Tenants and Renters
10. Fund Real Public Safety
PSL organizer Doris Jones, who personally survived homelessness multiple times and spearheaded the foundation of this project, put it best: “it is very important to help those in need who are less fortunate. These people have stories just like me. It’s important to stop overlooking those in need and start hearing their stories.” If it wasn’t for these services, Doris wouldn’t be the leader she is today.
Our class, many of whom are homeless, housing insecure, and chronically homeless need the essentials of life to survive day by day. It is essential to keep the momentum going by helping the poor as much as possible. This is not charity, however; it’s a project to build solidarity, provide political education, and raise consciousness and struggle by building unity across the diverse sectors of our class.
This is the same ethos the Black Panther Party had with their “Free Breakfast Programs” and their over 200 programs they called “survival pending revolution.” While corporate history presents these programs as merely providing charity, they were always also aimed at building alliances, creating unity, and raising consciousness.
Hope Packages is where the people of working and oppressed communities come together to assemble care packages to distribute wherever they are: whether commuting or running errands. Whenever we see a homeless person or someone in need, that’s our chance to give the person the kit, ask their name, and talk to them. We build connections because every person has a story and a struggle.
Volunteer for Hope Packages!
Watch Our Initial Assembly in January 2021
Indianapolis’ radical media outlet, Critical Thought Critique, covered Hope Package’s launch and first assembly in January 2021, capturing the overall spirit, purpose, and significance of the project.
It is our duty to fight for our freedom!
– Assata Shakur
It is our duty to win!
We must love each other and support one another!
We have nothing to lose but our chains!