God’s Mission Ministry held an event Saturday at the Salvation Army of Bloomington to raise awareness about the reality of being unhoused.
At the event, called “Walk a Mile in Their Shoes, participants walked a mile alongside people in the community who currently are or have been unhoused.
Despite the stormy weather, the group of roughly 20 walked side-by-side with the unhoused participants, allowing the rain to exemplify their struggles.
“I walked with this couple who were homeless,” said participant Steve Sewell. “I talked to the guy and just asked simple questions like, ‘How do you survive in the tent in the cold weather?’ He expressed that one of his biggest challenges is to keep his pregnant fiancé safe and meet her needs.”
Following the walk, a panel discussion was held where the unhoused people in the walk answered questions from the group about the realities and misconceptions of homelessness.
Many of the answers challenged the general idea of what homelessness is like, and how people can help. When asked what the hardest part of being unhoused was, one of the panelists skipped over the external factors, and focused on an internal struggle — finding the will to keep going.
Another stated that instead of simply bringing donations to a homeless encampment, people should reach out to organizations like God's Mission Ministry or talk to the residents themselves before bringing something they may not have a use for.
The panelists also explained how getting out of an encampment and into a home is much more complicated than it may seem.
“I watched not just myself, but a lot of other people I know who are still homeless get this wonderful job making very good money,” said a panelist named Liz. “But in Bloomington, they can make the minimum amount most property managers want you to make be two or three or four times what the rent is.”
Another person spoke about the barriers of having access to the documentation necessary for getting a house.
“I don’t have my ID,” a panelist named Sharon said. “I don’t have my birth certificate or anything to get my ID, and because of that we can’t be housed.”
The one point that came up several times in the discussion was how society’s perception of the unhoused is mostly incorrect. The panelists countered common stereotypes about the unhoused having a drug problem or being uneducated. They did say mental illness can play a big role in the issue.
“Mental health struggles are an equal opportunity destroyer,” said Elizabeth. “I was a registered nurse for 30 years and I could never have foreseen in my wildest nightmares what depression could take from me ... I lost absolutely everything.”
According to God’s Mission Ministry founder Kim Massey, the event accomplished everything organizers hoped it would.
“The first and foremost thing of this event was to help us raise funds to be able to continue doing what we do,” Massey said. “But also, everything that we do we love to raise awareness for the people who are experiencing homelessness. So, we wanted to put those two things together and that’s what we did today.”
All proceeds from the event go to funding the various services the ministry provides for the unhoused population in Bloomington-Normal.
