By Blake Haas

BLOOMINGTON – Those living in a small tent city in Bloomington must leave the property by Friday.

Around 17 people have nowhere else to go due to prior experiences at Home Sweet Home Ministries and the Salvation Army.

According to Matt Burgess, Chief Executive Officer at HSHM, his nonprofit is exploring reallocating some of the ARPA grant funding they received from the city.

“We know there are a few other smaller encampments elsewhere in B-N as well. We’ve been working diligently to engage these individuals in services, partnering with colleagues from many different organizations, including FUSE, Chestnut, Salvation Army, CHS, Eastview Church, and others.”

If HSHM uses ARPA grant funds, that would only provide a short-term solution.

“For several months, we have been attempting to find more viable long-term solutions with the City but have not been able to obtain approval for any of the solutions we’ve proposed to them.  Solving this problem of unhoused community members will require all of us and will need new thoughts, new solutions, and new investments – it is glaringly obvious our traditional approaches are not sufficient,” Burgess said in an email statement.

The nonprofit continues to work with Bloomington city leaders to find a permanent solution.

Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].