In mid-January, Bloomington-Normal's first shelter village of about 50 tiny, mostly single-room living quarters opened its doors.
The Bridge has largely been at capacity ever since. It made a big dent in the community's homeless population. One week later, volunteers canvassed McLean County to track the homeless population. It's called the Point-In-Time [PIT] count, an annual, national effort to see who is unhoused and try to connect them with services. The count is one of several factors that determines federal funding for homeless services.
On Jan. 29, a night when temperatures fell below zero, volunteers found three people outside in Bloomington-Normal. The year before, on a night not quite as cold, they found close to 40.
“They are misreporting a lot of information. They are literally lying to our faces and asking us to be ok with it and we’re not. But we will continue to play ball because if is part of our requirement."Liam Wheeler, Continuum of Care
“There’s no question that The Bridge opening was a significant factor in bringing our number of unsheltered neighbors down,” said Matt Burgess, CEO of Home Sweet Home Ministries, which operates The Bridge.
Those numbers are encouraging but may not paint a complete picture. Liam Wheeler with the McLean County Center for Human Services leads the Continuum of Care, a coalition of homeless advocates across an 11-county region which leads the Point-in-Time count. Wheeler said aside from the weather, the low number may also reflect that some still living outside have become harder to find.
“Because of encampments being disbanded faster and more aggressively on the city level, our clients are moving further and further away from the city center and are less likely to tell us where they are sleeping for fear that their encampment will be moved,” Wheeler said.
The Point-In-Time count also showed an increase in the number of people in emergency shelter. Wheeler said that's partly because data from previous years was incomplete. It was a rocky few years after the Bloomington nonprofit PATH stepped away from its regional role leading homeless services.
For the 11-county area [DeWitt, Ford, Iroquois, Kankakee, Livingston, Logan, Mason, McLean, Menard, Piatt and Vermillion], the 2026 count included 319 people in emergency shelter and 79 with no shelter. That compares with 303 people in 2025 [212 sheltered, 91 unsheltered] and 396 people in 2024 [334 sheltered, 62 unsheltered].
“The more pivotal part of my job is standing on a hill saying things are broken and we need to fix it. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last two years,” Wheeler said.
Since Wheeler and the McLean County Center for Human Services took over two years ago, he said more counties have started their own homeless counts, and there's more collaboration among providers, so the data is more comprehensive now.
That may not be enough to avoid a substantial cut in federal funds.
No more 'Housing first'
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD] has announced a major policy shift. It is taking $4 billion away from programs defined as Housing First and diverting it to programs that mandate treatment for mental illness and substance abuse.
It stems from an executive order President Trump signed last year. The order was entitled "Ending Crime and Disorder on American Streets."
Calling Housing First a failure, HUD noted a 12-year period in which taxpayer-supported housing and Continuum of Care funding increased substantially, yet homeless populations still climbed.
“I wouldn’t say that’s an unfair perspective because homelessness continues to worsen, but it’s not because we don’t know what works. We know what works,” Burgess said. “We’re just not investing enough in those services.”
Wheeler said what does work to end homelessness is housing. He said HUD's claims contradict the agency's own 2025 report which showed homelessness dropped 3% nationwide that year.
“They are misreporting a lot of information. They are literally lying to our faces and asking us to be OK with it and we’re not. But we will continue to play ball because it is part of our requirement,” Wheeler said.
Wheeler said the federal policy shift could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in regional homeless services without a major shift in approach.
“We will have to shut down permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing programs," he said. "Clients will become homeless because of these changes. There’s no evidence it will be [good for clients].”
Wheeler said the new model could provide new opportunities for faith-based organizations that specialize in substance abuse treatment and mental illness to get involved.
Burgess said his shelter recommends substance abuse treatment when appropriate, but he said mandates don't work.
“People will comply in order to receive other services for a time, but we cannot mandate recovery,” Burgess said.
Burgess said he's seen the Continuum of Care improve coordination and collaboration over the last year — and that gives him hope, but it comes with a dose of concern for the future.
“There are very encouraging signs … and we continue to make progress in those ways. And of course that could get blown up if we lose our funding,” Burgess said.
A coalition of housing advocates has sued the Trump administration over the funding shift.
Burgess said its possible McLean County could possibly help fill some funding gaps with its shared sales tax that supports mental health and public safety. The fund has already helped to fund construction of The Bridge and its first two years of operation, but said it’s unlikely that could make up for the entire loss of funding the Continuum of Care could be facing.
