By Blake Haas
BLOOMINGTON – City leaders in Bloomington want to find housing for more than a dozen people who live in tents near Home Sweet Home Ministries.

However, with high mortgage rates and low availability of low-income apartments, that’s a tall task to ask.
“These are people who are not able to get into housing and are not able to be served either at our shelter or the Salvation Army shelter,” Matt Burgess, the Chief Executive Officer at Home Sweet Home Ministries, said. “These are folks with circumstances that are preventing them from being successful in that type of congregate environment. So, they have no other options besides residing in a tent right now.”

Technically, the tent city is not in zoning compliance.

“We’re working to problem solve around this. In the meantime, at least they are in a relatively safe place, within an eyeshot of the (Bloomington) police department. They are adjacent to our property. They are coming into the community center during the day. They are able to use Eastview’s Community Center for showers. We’re really working closely with those residents in those tents as our neighbors.”

Until city leaders and Home Sweet Home Ministries find those residents a place to live, they will remain in the tents.

Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].