A homeless shelter in Bloomington dedicated the first non-congregate shelter village in McLean County on Tuesday.
The McLean County Chamber of Commerce hosted the ribbon-cutting ceremony at Home Sweet Homes Ministries' 48-unit facility on Oakland Avenue. However, residents cannot move in until city officials issue a certificate of occupancy permit, said agency CEO Matt Burgess.
"We just got that issued today for our clubhouse," he said. "My staff can move in and get their offices set up in there, but we don't yet have that other permit."
Burgess hopes the permit will be issued in the next few weeks, after a fence is installed around the property and an electrical re-inspection.
"I don't understand that stuff, but once we have those things taken care of, we'll be able to start moving people in," he said.
A second chance
Justin Larson said he's one of those people. Along with his dog, Bubba Kush, he is ready to be off the streets.
"This town has been really kind to us, in ways that other places haven't been," said Larson about the resources he's received since moving out of an encampment and into a hotel. "I have spondylosis. It's been very hard not having a place."
One of the benefits of The Bridge, said residential manager Debra Jo Bushman, is the shelter seeks to remove barriers to permanent housing by offering participants services on-site.
"We have community partners that help with employment services, medical help, mental — all that stuff."
Vulnerability determines who gets priority placement.
"We have a mother and her adult son, but he has mental challenges. They are currently homeless. He can do many things on his own, but he depends on her," said Bushman, adding those with medical conditions and the elderly also are first on the list.
There are no vacancies, and the wait list is long, she said.
The premises are staffed round-the-clock, and the shelter serves as a safe and secure alternative to residents unable to live in conventional shelters due to restrictions on pet ownership, mental health struggles, or background check issues.
Barriers to mental health services kept Larson from receiving timely interventions, he believes.
"See, back then people weren't talking about ADHD and autism, you just had to deal with it," he said.
Larson hopes living at The Bridge will help him achieve stability. And as long as a resident is progressing toward their goals of securing permanent housing, they can stay in the program anywhere from 4 to 6 months or longer.
"It just really depends on how long it takes them to progress to their goals," said Bushman.
It takes a village
In remarks during Tuesday's ribbon cutting with Bloomington officials and the McLean County Chamber of Commerce, Burgess thanked the community for helping complete the building, who he said volunteered countless hours.
"There are over 130 volunteers who helped us get to this point," he said. "By painting the cabins, building the furniture, moving the furniture, they contributed over 1,200 hours of work towards getting this campus up and running. And I'm incredibly grateful for all of those volunteers that have helped us thus far in the project."
Community members like Mickey Lower, Bloomington's face-painting business owner The Zoo Lady, and Epiphany Catholic School art teacher John Smyth ensured every resident has a hand-painted portrait of an animal, including Bubba Kush.
