The Shalom Center announced Tuesday it renamed its umbrella organization and its social service programs “Beacon.” This new name applies to the major programs run by the Shalom Center in South Central Indiana, according to a press release.
The five programs now called “Beacon” include A Friend's Place, Crawford Homes, Phil’s Kitchen, Street Outreach and Rapid Re-housing. These programs help people find housing, both temporary and permanent, food and access to needed resources, according to the release.
“Our capacity to care has grown so significantly that we needed a new way to express that,” Executive Director Rev. Forrest Gilmore said in the release. “Once, a Day Center providing basic needs, now we’ve added so much more to help people not only survive but get back home. In addition to emergency supports, Beacon provides solutions for people in poverty. All our efforts work together to be the light that guides you home.”
The Shalom Center has been serving the Bloomington community since its creation in January 2000 and has provided more than 1.2 million meals to those in need and assisted in finding housing for more than 700 people experiencing homelessness every year, according to the release.
While the Beacon will encompass all Shalom Center programs, the Shalom Center day center on South Walnut Street will keep the same name and continue to provide meals, clothing, laundry services, showers and case management services, according to the release. For the duration of COVID-19, the Shalom Center is providing services to the Monroe County Isolation Center and the COVID-19 Homelessness Prevention Project, according to the release.
“I like it,” said Kenny Garrison, who used to receive services at Shalom and now volunteers in a variety of capacities. “Beacon means hope. And that’s a way home.”
