BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (WMBD) — In the same place you can get a cup of coffee or a new pair of shoes, people at a local mall were given something you don’t see everyday.
The city of Bloomington held a Housing Fair in Eastland Mall on Wednesday to offer avenues and resources to people to have a safe place to live.
“We have folks here that are looking to purchase a home, looking to rent, looking for housing, rehab, if they’re unhoused, really the full gamut of services that are related to housing,” said Willam Bessler, the city’s grants manager.
Several tables were lined up in the mall that ranged from veterans services to education to the Salvation Army.
With Home Sweet Home Ministries currently leading the charge in the mission to mitigate homelessness in the city with the potential shelter village, this fair is another way the non-profit is able to connect with anyone who needs housing.
“It’s wonderful because it just gives people an opportunity to get connected to different resources,” said Courtney Hayes, housing navigator for Home Sweet Home Ministries. “If I don’t have the answer, then maybe someone else does.”
Every vendor at the housing fair had the same wish.
“Everyone to have a roof over their head,” said Kimberly Massey, president of God’s Mission Ministry, a street outreach group in Bloomington. “Everyone deserves it. No matter the mental health, no matter the addiction, no matter the trauma or the story behind what got them there, we believe that everyone deserves to be housed.”
To learn more about what the fair was about, click here.
WMBD TV can be reached at [email protected].
