Homeless shelters low on space

While near-zero degree temperatures blasted Bloomington this week, the risk of serious illness among the local homeless has caused concern among local shelter organizers. \nEven with the transience among many of the nation's homeless -- often causing significantly fewer shelter-seekers during the winter -- Martha's House, a Bloomington overnight shelter, has had to turn away some homeless people because of capacity limitations, said Joe Castle, the shelter's case manager.\nShalom Community Center, a daytime shelter located at 219 E. Fourth St., one block from the bustle of Kirkwood Avenue, has also worked to get many of the city's homeless out of the cold, said Joel Rekas, the center's executive director.\nBloomington shelters provide beds for about one-third of the people who seek it, close to the national average, Rekas said. Rekas said most shelters open their doors on a first-come, first-serve basis.\nTypically, the Shalom Center will serve about 250 of Bloomington's impoverished each day, but during the winter that number will fall to about 200 as many homeless people migrate south to more tolerable climates, Rekas said. In addition, some local landlords allow delinquent tenants to stay in their apartments until springtime, he said. But for those living on city streets, the Shalom Center encourages people to stay inside, rather than brave the cold, Rekas said.\n"If you are out for any extended period of time and are not properly clothed, this can be very dangerous weather," Rekas said.\nMany people whom the center tries to help lack regular access to health care, Rekas said, so the added stress of living on the street exacerbated otherwise treatable diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure. \n"By the time they are seen, the emergency room becomes the primary care provider and oftentimes it's a much more serious problem," he said. "And that's simply for lack of health insurance."\nWhile the Shalom Center welcomes men, women and families during the day, neither of the two Bloomington overnight shelters offer beds for families. The nearest overnight shelter for families is the WellSpring Center of Morgan County in Martinsville.\nCastle believes his shelter is doing everything within its capabilities to help the community's homeless. Still, he said, the goal is to help people transition to permanent housing.\nBut the transition process if often tougher than it seems, Rekas said. He said that despite the assumption by some that homeless people don't want to work, one of the main goals of the Shalom Community Center was to act as a gateway to obtaining stable employment.\nBut sometimes, he added, that isn't enough. \n"It's the wages contrasted with the cost of living," he said. "We have homeless people, for example, who work in the (Indiana Memorial) Union. The employment is part-time; it's at a low wage and not enough to afford housing."\nTo afford rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Bloomington, someone would have to earn about $13 per hour, according to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition.\nRekas said all the work the Shalom Center does is based around community efforts. The center only pays two people, including Rekas, to work full-time, he said. More than 100 volunteers also work on the "front lines," including many IU students.\n"You just don't realize, especially when you are in the campus environment, that there are people struggling and homeless in this city," said IU senior Srujana Kunapareddy, who has volunteered at a shelter in Bloomington. "You just don't think about the smaller stuff people need"