The Salvation Army of Bloomington has a new director of residential services for its Safe Harbor shelter: Kiowna Towns, who has been with the shelter for over a decade and moved into the role a couple of months ago.
Right now, she saids the biggest hurdle for the unhoused population in McLean County is increasingly frigid temperatures.
“We are in some of the most challenging months,” she said, adding she is training staff to meet higher demand and ensure short-term goals are met.
“And that’s just getting individuals out of the cold,” she said.
She and others at Salvation Army and in the social services sector are doing what they can to help people stay warm while the 54 beds in the shelter remain full — and there’s a waitlist. Part of the Salvation Army’s efforts include the emergency winter shelter that went into effect mid-October and acts as an overnight warming center for non-residents of Safe Harbor.
In a recent conversation for WGLT’s Sound Ideas, Towns said around 20 people slept in the emergency shelter space each night. That was before the latest cold snap. Use is not always consistent, though.
“Sometimes people will stay a few nights… and then we'll have other people coming in,” Towns explained. “So we do recognize that the services that we provide are longstanding, but we will have people that come and they will go.”
There are 30 total beds offered, based on maximum occupancy mandates set by the city.
Despite the open spots, Towns said she considers the emergency shelter a success because it’s getting people warm.
However, not everyone can access the emergency shelter — or Salvation Army services at all. Several people living unhoused in the community have been banned from residential services for behavior or other reasons.
When this happens, Towns said the Salvation Army tries to help those people through other services, including the food pantry and Safety Net warming center. Around 400 families are using the food pantry.
The nonprofit also partners with area agencies to get people help, including a rental assistance program funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“Just because that person isn’t in residential services doesn’t mean they might not align for other programs that we offer,” she said. “I believe that outside of residential services, there is some help that they can receive from the Salvation Army in general.”
A need in the community that could still be met is increased financial education services, said Towns, pointing out the Salvation Army is collaborating with Heartland Community College on its Workforce Equity Initiative, which targets certifications in high-demand technical roles. However, Towns said even basic economics courses on credit, keeping jobs and finding jobs that pay a living wage would be a great help for many people right now.
“All of us are being hit with [economic] challenges,” she said. “We are seeing people that have never been homeless before [become unhoused].”
Looking to her future in the role, Towns wants to continue serving and meeting the community's needs.
“I know that sounds very broad, but my focus right now is just to make sure that we are meeting the needs of the general public,” she said.
