As schools reopen and parents head back to work, one of Bloomington's most prominent nonprofit organizations is making a comeback as an ongoing refuge for local youths.
Keeping the doors of the Western Avenue Community Center open during the pandemic is a struggle, but with new safety measures in place, board president Michael Jones said the center will continue its services with the hope that its clients and students will adjust to the new normal.
“The new normal for us is getting back to visiting our clients face to face,” Jones said. “So, now you have to make an appointment to visit one of the staff members, get your temperature taken, sign in, and answer the basic screening questions surrounding COVID-19.”
When the pandemic began, the center closed with an unforeseeable future. With a staff willing and able to work from home, it was able to continue some services that helped families in desperate times.
“We posted a sign on March 18 that said, ‘Closed until further notice,’ but further notice didn’t come till June 8,” Jones said. “Our Hispanic outreach community needed help with documentation so we were able to help with that, and while the courts were shut down, our interpretation director was still able to do some things via Zoom.”
As demand for food grew during the virus’ peak, the community center held several meal distributions for families in need. Jones said its drive-thru operation was steady, serving more than 11,000 grab-and-go meals in an effort led by the United Way of McLean County.
“We were able to pass the meals through the back door,” he said. “We had a steady stream of cars every day that told us the number of meals they needed, and our volunteers had them ready to go.”
In 2019, the community center put out a public call for financial help with its programs to stave off closing. After that plea, Jones said the center received a large amount of donations.
“We were very blessed that the community came through in a big way,” he said. “One of the big things that’s allowed us to move forward is re-engaging with our youth. We rebuilt our youth programming and started a teen club in June with the intent to have about 20 teenagers, but immediately had over 30, so it’s moving in the right direction.”
Working with Mid Central Community Action, the center now has a $10,000 community service block grant titled COVID Cares, through the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. The grant will give clients the opportunity on a need basis to go to the center, or shop online for groceries from $75 to $150 through a simple application.
With safety concerns growing amid the pandemic, the center is hopeful teens will adjust to its new protocols. Jones said the biggest challenge it and schools may face is ensuring kids wear masks and keep them on.
“We had a little bit of an issue with that when we opened back up, but we’ve made a lot of progress,” he said. “When you look around now when the kids are in the building they do have their masks on, but I think that might be one of the biggest challenges schools may face when the kids go back.”
In its most recent summer newsletter, Jones said he was excited to be able to dream again about several initiatives to improve the use of its facility. Part of that dream is being able to conduct different activities in some of the building spaces.
“Through a very generous donor we’ve been able to install central air in the gymnasium,” he said. “This facility burned down in 1982 and was rebuilt in 1983 so it’s got some years on it, and it needs some updates. We believe if we can get our kitchen updated we can use it more for training and hosting various events and our restrooms need updating too, so we’re in the process of pursuing grants that would allow us to work on those particular projects.”
As systemic injustice and violence against Black people continues across the country, many kids have been exposed to dark images. Jones said to create awareness and combat growing issues among the younger community, the center is working to create restorative services.
“We’re in the process of learning about restorative services and how we can be a champion for that in this community,” he said. “We’ve got a lot to learn there, but Western Avenue Community Center might be a location where we can conduct this restorative service program, which would bring young people together to talk about issues and challenges they have and how they can overcome them through a process of working things out versus doing something that could go against society.”
As a member of Western Avenue since he was 7 years old, Jones has held the facility close to his heart, and is very hopeful for a brighter future.
“Yes there’s obstacles, but we just need to figure out how to work through those obstacles,” he said. “We have to move forward in a positive way.”
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