The City of Bloomington, Heading Home, and Housing Service Providers to Host Community Workshop on Reducing Unsheltered Homelessness

The City of Bloomington, in partnership with Heading Home of South Central Indiana and local housing service providers, will host a community workshop on Tuesday, Aug. 13 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Monroe Convention Center at 302 S. College Ave. to discuss strategies for reducing unsheltered homelessness. This workshop is open to the public.

The evening will begin with a presentation of recommendations from Heading Home of South Central Indiana’s Housing Action Plan, followed by breakout sessions focusing on priority needs:

• Support robust, coordinated street outreach and linkage to services, including emergency shelter and housing, and strengthen case management support

• Strengthen diversion efforts to prevent homelessness

• Enact a temporary moratorium on welcoming people from outside our region to overnight emergency shelters, provide reunification services for out-of-region people, and explore other ways to mitigate the increase of non-regional residents experiencing homelessness

• Increase the number of housing units with rents under $500/month

• Increase the number of beds for medical respite and determine any need for additional shelter beds

The breakout sessions will be structured as roundtable discussions, each including a housing service provider, to explore the opportunities and challenges associated with each recommendation.

Earlier this year, Bloomington’s housing service providers and Heading Home of South Central Indiana developed an actionable plan to address street homelessness. The plan was developed by the following service providers:

• Melissa Burgess, HealthNet Homeless Initiative Program

• Forrest Gilmore, Beacon Inc.

• Dana Jones, Wheeler Mission-Bloomington

• Mary Morgan, Heading Home of South Central Indiana

• Emily Pike, New Hope for Families and chair, South Central Housing Network

• Carrie Stillions, Middle Way House

• Tatiana Wheeler, Heading Home of South Central Indiana

“Addressing homelessness is a collective responsibility that demands a coalition of dedicated and compassionate individuals and organizations. This workshop is a critical step in that journey, providing an essential forum for community feedback and collaboration,” said Mayor Kerry Thomson. “There is no single solution that will solve homelessness, nor any single group which can achieve that goal. It is through thoughtful civic dialogue, co-creation of solutions, and avenues for joint action that, together, we will create the solutions that bring about meaningful change in our community.”