Shalom Community Center Programs

The data above is collected by the Shalom Center and aggregated in Shalom's annual report. 

Bloomington has a statewide reputation for offering high-quality social service support for those in need. This reputation is derived from hundreds of social service nonprofits that call the city home, as well as a community of support for progressive governmental policies. In respect to safety, civility, and justice the most visible agencies are Centerstone, the Shalom Community Center, Wheeler Mission, New Hope for Families, Middle Way House, and Monroe County United Ministries. These agencies represent a mixture of homeless shelters, mental health facilities, and poverty assistance programs that support those in need.

Poverty In Bloomington, Indiana

Indiana University students skew this statistic, but other metrics indicate that Monroe County has a persistent poverty issue.  Every year the state of Indiana conducts a Point In Time count as a method of measuring the number of individuals experiencing homelessness on a given night. Measuring the number of individuals experiencing homelessness on a given night is very difficult.  In an effort to gather metrics about changes between years, The state and social service agencies around the state conduct an in person survey with individuals in shelters or on the street. The answers to the survey are self reported by the individuals being surveyed. The PIT count is not an absolute study, but provides insight into the composition of a region's homeless population on a given night from year to year.

According to the Point In Time count, the number of homeless individuals and families has increased from 200 in 2009 to 350 in 2017. The most recent homeless point-in-time count indicates that the majority of the increase has come from individuals, rather than families, and most of these individuals are men. Single men without children have the fewest dedicated resources in our community, making them more likely to experience homelessness than other subpopulations.

HOMELESSNESS IN BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA

The pie graphs above the bar graphs represent the full data set, to see year specific representations click on a given year.

Mental health problems, substance abuse, and domestic violence involvement are common traits among homeless individuals in Bloomington. During the 2017 PIT count, 42 individuals in emergency shelters self reported having a serious mental illness, 36 self reported having substance abuse issues, and 75 self reported to being victims of domestic violence.