Muncie Mission to start community health clinic in Muncie Crisis Center, eventually owning the facility
This story has been updated.
Muncie’s crisis center – paid for mostly by federal funds – will add a free community health clinic for low-income residents, run by a local faith-based homeless shelter. As IPR’s Stephanie Wiechmann reports, the organization will also come to own the center.
Audio Transcript
The Muncie Crisis Center was first announced in early 2023 and was intended to be staffed 24 hours a day with trained professionals for people who need help, especially with drug addiction. Since it opened in 2025, Meridian Health Services has been providing mental health and addiction services there.
Now, the city says the 8th Street location will be used to expand operations for Muncie Mission Ministries’ “no-cost community health clinic.” Mayor Dan Ridenour says the transition will begin in January 2027, after the current contract with Meridian expires. In a statement, the mayor’s office also says the city will transfer ownership of the crisis center to the Muncie Mission in 2027.
The Mission started its clinic in 2022 with basic services offered for free to Delaware County residents who do not have health insurance and meet low-income requirements. The Mission says its clinic cannot provide emergency services.
When the crisis center was announced in 2023, Paula Tyler with IU Health said an expansion from just behavioral health was a future goal.
“At some point, would we like to be able to bring in some more medical staff into that? Absolutely,” she said.
According to data from the city of Muncie, Meridian has provided services for more than 400 visits to the crisis center. But Ridenour says the city pays for those services with about an average of $40,000 a month. He says that is a cost that the city won’t be able to sustain after the state’s property tax cuts go into effect.
Meanwhile, a report from the Indiana Commission to Combat Drug Abuse says “Indiana is the 10th worst state in the United States struggling with addiction, overdose, and treatment challenges.”
Stephanie Wiechmann is our Managing Editor and “All Things Considered” Host. Contact her at slwiechmann@bsu.edu.
