New housing plan for Bloomington’s ‘street homeless’ adds case managers, effort to stem inflow

At the mic is Mary Morgan (Heading Home of South Central Indiana). Seated at the dais are: Tatiana Wheeler (Heading Home of South Central Indiana), Carrie Stillions (Middle Way House), Emily Pike (New Hope for Families and Chair, South Central Housing Network), Dana Jones (Wheeler Mission), Melissa Burgess (HealthNet Homeless Initiative Program), Kerry Thomson (mayor of Bloomington), Forrest Gilmore (Beacon, Inc.) (Aug. 6, 2024)

Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson (Aug. 6, 2024)

North-south road next to the Rail Trail looking northeast. (Aug. 6, 2024)

On Tuesday, a new housing action plan was unveiled at a press conference at Bloomington’s city hall.

The press conference was held by Heading Home of South Central Indiana, Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson, and heads of a half dozen nonprofits that provide services to homeless people.

The plan focuses on the “street homeless” (aka the “unsheltered homeless”), as contrasted with those who are currently staying in a shelter, but don’t have a permanent place to live (aka the “sheltered homeless”).

Elements of the plan include: coordinated outreach; more money for case managers; increased efforts to prevent homelessness in the first place; an increase in the number housing units with rents under $500/month; and an effort to reduce the inflow of homeless people from outside the area that includes Monroe County and the counties next door to Monroe.

Continue reading “New housing plan for Bloomington’s ‘street homeless’ adds case managers, effort to stem inflow” →

Column: Bloomington’s city council should reject ‘bundling’ of bills, engage public earlier and better

Appearing for a vote on the Bloomington city council’s Wednesday (Aug. 7) agenda is a single piece of legislation—Appropriation Ordinance 2024-02.

That one ordinance could have, and should have, been split into three. That’s because the one ordinance covers three different topics and three different funds. Continue reading “Column: Bloomington’s city council should reject ‘bundling’ of bills, engage public earlier and better” →

2024 count: Doubling of ‘street homelessness’ in Monroe County’s region compared to 2023

Region 10 as defined by the IHCDA (Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority) is highlighted in red. https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1zon3f9bVFom_-k8CXNOoAIm1QIkv7QQ&usp=sharing

Data from this chart is from HUD: https://www.hudexchange.info/resource/3031/pit-and-hic-data-since-2007/

Data for this chart is from the IHCDA (Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority): https://www.in.gov/ihcda/indiana-balance-of-state-continuum-of-care/hmis_data_portal/

Data from this chart is from HUD: https://www.hudexchange.info/resource/3031/pit-and-hic-data-since-2007/

Data for this chart is from the IHCDA (Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority): https://www.in.gov/ihcda/indiana-balance-of-state-continuum-of-care/hmis_data_portal/

Every January, the IHCDA (Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority) helps organize a PIT (point in time) count of people experiencing homelessness in the state of Indiana.

Released last week, the results from this year’s PIT count show a doubling of unsheltered people (aka the “street homeless”) in Monroe County’s region of Indiana, compared to the 2023 PIT count.

Monroe County is part of Region 10, which also includes Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Morgan and Owen counties. About 75 percent of the total homelessness count for Region 10 is contributed by Monroe County.

In raw numbers for Region 10, the number of unsheltered homeless people grew from 73, as measured in the 2023 PIT count, to 142 in 2024.

The total number people counted as homeless in Region 10 also grew, from 427 in 2023 to 456 in 2024. But that’s a 7 percent increase, compared to the 100 percent increase in the unsheltered count. Continue reading “2024 count: Doubling of ‘street homelessness’ in Monroe County’s region compared to 2023” →

Bloomington mayoral primary forum: Are we scared of being the best at taking care of the less fortunate?

2023 Democratic Primary candidates for mayor of Bloomington, from left: Don Griffin, Susan Sandberg, and Kerry Thomson. (March 28, 2023 Heading Home forum)

At a Tuesday evening event for mayoral hopefuls in the Democratic Party’s May 2 primary, moderators from Heading Home of South Central Indiana quizzed the candidates about housing for low-income residents and homelessness.

The hosts also flipped the usual script for part of the event.

Each candidate had submitted one question for the audience to answer on arrival at the venue—Crestmont Boys and Girls Club on the north side of town. The questions were accessible through a QR code that appeared on a handout at the reception table.

Out of the roughly 100 people who attended, 58 responded to the three questions.

Co-moderator Leon Gordon, who is administrative director for Bloomington Housing Authority, reported a perfect 50-50 split for the question submitted by Don Griffin:

Are we as a community scared of being the best at taking care of those that are less fortunate?

Griffin then gave his take on the response to the audience poll question, followed by Susan Sandberg and Kerry Thomson. Continue reading “Bloomington mayoral primary forum: Are we scared of being the best at taking care of the less fortunate?” →