“We do know how to end homelessness,” he said. “The challenge is the investment.”
One year after launching its five-year plan, the Shalom Community Center understands the challenge it has taken on. The center presented an update on its progress Thursday night at the Fountain Square Ballroom as year two of the plan begins.
The number of homeless people in Bloomington is growing, Gilmore said. In Monroe County, the number of homeless people increased by 27 percent from 2014 to 2015. According to city-data.com, 29.6 percent of Bloomington residents were below the poverty level in 2013.
The Shalom Community Center’s 2020 Vision has set its goals high — the five-year strategic plan aims to stop chronic homelessness, end it for children and families and reduce overall homelessness by 50 percent, based on numbers from 2013. Shalom has a $1 million budget to combat what Gilmore called a “national tragedy.”
“These are the big, hairy, audacious goals,” he said. “We are aware of that. We are not crazy.”
He said the center is focusing on long-term solutions. Its efforts have shifted from maintaining homelessness — helping people get by — to ending it. Strategies include offering affordable housing, rapid re-housing, case management and street outreach.
“I think it’s a great aspiration,” said Chris Elam, who attended the presentation. He participates in the Catholic Worker, which allows families to live in community housing and provide shelter to those without homes. He said he doesn’t know if eliminating homelessness is possible but he thinks Shalom’s efforts are ambitious.
“Maybe it’s something you have to aspire to, to do to this kind of work,” he said.
In 2013 Shalom opened Crawford Homes, the state’s first Housing First program. The apartments have provided affordable housing to 59 people, according to the center’s 2014 annual report. The next step is Crawford Part 2, which will include an additional 43 apartments for a total of 83. The second step will target the most vulnerable people, Gilmore said — “those suffering from long-term homelessness due to mental illness, late stage addiction, physical disabilities, chronic disease and developmental disabilities,” according to the report.
Since the apartments opened, Gilmore said there has been a 65-percent drop in emergency room visits and an 88-percent drop in incarcerations for its residents. He said getting people into their own homes is cheaper than letting them stay on the street.
“We want people to go home,” he said. “To be home, to have a home.”
The Rapid Re-Housing program helps families seeking homes with living expenses for up to three months. The families are also given support with budgeting and jobs. According to Gilmore’s presentation, the program housed 176 people, including 55 children, in 104 households. Shalom’s case management program also helps people get into their own homes, and a street outreach program that began in 2014 provides support to people still on the street who may need help. Six downtown resource officers from the Bloomington Police Department were chosen at the same time to help reduce incarceration numbers.
“We now have people out there seven days a week,” Gilmore said.
Additionally, Shalom offers two meals per day, showers, laundry services, phone access, short term storage and other services.
Bloomington resident Erica Kraemer said Shalom helped her get off the street.
“I get to sleep comfortably in bed now at night,” she said.
Another resident, Rob Kimmel, also benefits from the shelter’s efforts. He said he has been involved with the shelter on and off for the past 11 years. With a caseworker’s help, he’s gotten insurance and can now go to a doctor instead of the ER.
“Without Shalom, I don’t know where I’d be now,” he said. “They’ve just done a lot for me.”
