Frozen and Forgotten: An Unhoused Winter in Bloomington-Normal
WGLT's multimedia project ‒ including WGLT’s first-ever video documentary ‒ chronicling what it’s like to be unhoused in Bloomington-Normal during the cold winter months. Debuts in February 2025. Produced by WGLT's Melissa Ellin and Emily Bollinger.
Questions about this project? Contact news@wglt.org.
Questions about this project? Contact news@wglt.org.
Join us in person at 6 p.m. Feb. 26 for the debut screening of the 30-minute video documentary Frozen and Forgotten: An Unhoused Winter in Bloomington-Normal, followed by a panel discussion with some of the organizations and unhoused people featured in the documentary.
This event will be held at the Bloomington Public Library, 205 E. Olive St., in Community Room 2.
If you need a special accommodation to fully participate, please contact WGLT at (309) 438-2255 or wglt@ilstu.edu. Please allow sufficient time to arrange the accommodation.
This event will be held at the Bloomington Public Library, 205 E. Olive St., in Community Room 2.
If you need a special accommodation to fully participate, please contact WGLT at (309) 438-2255 or wglt@ilstu.edu. Please allow sufficient time to arrange the accommodation.
Listen to the audio series starting Feb. 17 on WGLT’s newsmagazine Sound Ideas, airing at 5 p.m. each day. Listen on 89.1 FM or stream on WGLT.org or the NPR App. Companion written stories will be published each day on WGLT.org.
Recent stories about homelessness
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A nonprofit that serves housing insecure youth and young people with family instability has opened a new Youth Education and Support Center on Bloomington’s west side. -
The City of Bloomington has announced two forums have been scheduled to collect public input on a proposed cabin village to serve the unhoused. The forums are scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday, May 2 and 7 p.m. Monday, May 5 at the Bloomington Public Library Community Room 1. -
The City of Bloomington will spend more than $500,000 to buy additional powdered-activated carbon in an effort to eliminate ongoing odor and taste issues with the water supply. -
Bloomington city officials are exploring more treatments to eliminate the odor and improve the taste of its water. -
A standing room-only crowd turned out Wednesday night for the debut screening of WGLT's documentary Frozen and Forgotten: An Unhoused Winter in Bloomington-Normal. -
Advocates say McLean County's homeless response system is inefficient and ineffective. They're trying to build a better one, but it's not happening fast enough. -
Street outreach is a proven way to help end homelessness and efforts are growing in McLean County, but providers say they are still inefficient — and something else needs to be done. -
Homelessness is increasing in Bloomington-Normal. This is what some of the roughly 130 people who are living on the streets any given night this winter say about the experience. -
Participants said they felt an added urgency to participate in the annual Home Sweet Home Ministries fundraiser, given McLean County's recent rise in homelessness. -
With budget negotiations around the corner, advocates from across Illinois have written a letter asking Gov. JB Pritzker to include an additional $100 million to the budget for homeless shelter services. That would mark more than a 30% increase over what the state currently spends on the unhoused. -
McLean County’s Mental Health and Public Safety Fund Advisory Council is recommending around $1 million from the $1.5 million 2025 budget to go toward a non-congregate project for the unhoused population. -
WGLT will debut a new multimedia project this month ‒ including WGLT’s first-ever video documentary ‒ chronicling what it’s like to be unhoused in Bloomington-Normal during the cold winter months.
