Home Sweet Home Ministries

There's a declaration of emergency over the number of unhoused people in Bloomington right now, and efforts to provide new housing and expanded space in shelters. In this episode of WGLT's series "McHistory," you'll learn that the issue is not new — though the response today is perhaps more humane than it was in other eras.

After funding shortfalls and federal policies that have created new challenges for the housing industry, one leader in housing says hope and unity is what will carve a path forward.

In a memo to the council, city staff says Bloomington will still lack sufficient shelter capacity this winter even with the addition of the shelter village that's under construction near Home Sweet Home Ministries. That’s expected to open in December.

The trust that Home Sweet Home Ministries has built with the Bloomington-Normal community did not happen overnight. Here's how the nonprofit has repeatedly embraced innovative ideas to meet its mission.

Dabrona Alzebdieh and her son Joshua opened South of Chicago Groceries across the street from Miller Park in Bloomington, after seeing the neighborhood lacked a place to get fresh food nearby.

Every Friday a group of unhoused people meets in a room at the Junction in Downtown Bloomington to write. They are part of a writing group, an effort to help the unhoused enrich their lives amid a stressful existence.

The McLean County Board on Thursday approved an audit of the county’s mental health and public safety sales tax fund. The resolution to the intergovernmental agreement [IGA] will require approval by the Town of Normal and City of Bloomington.

After several years of planning, two public forums, getting funding approval and securing the location, Home Sweet Home Ministries broke ground on its new shelter village, The Bridge.

Thomas Metcalf School sixth-graders designed and built a tiny house that Home Sweet Home Ministries will put in its shelter village.

Home Sweet Home Ministries has officially launched the Build the Bridge campaign, a new fundraising effort to help construct its planned shelter village. The campaign's goal is $750,000.