Twenty-five residents moved into the Crawford Apartments on the south side of Bloomington in 2013. Lifedesigns and Habitat for Humanity partnered with the Shalom Community Center — now called Beacon Inc — to develop the project.
The Crawford Apartments’ 61 units are geared toward Bloomington’s most vulnerable residents: people who have been chronically homeless, have a disability, or substance use disorder.
One resident, Dwight Hayes, moved in near Christmas that year after six years of homelessness.
“Thank god I’m here,” he said. “I’ve been out on the streets a long time.”
The CEO of LifeDesigns called it “a gorgeous facility” and said “the apartments are lovely.”
That is not how it would be described 12 years after the first building opened (Crawford II opened in 2017 with another 36 units). About a third of the apartments are uninhabitable, according to the city. Last month the city sued the apartments’ owner, Cinnaire, and Continental Management, for rental violations. These include bugs infestations, broken smoke detectors, and holes in walls and ceilings.
The city of Bloomington invested nearly $700,000 for the $6 million development.
Read more: City sues Crawford Apartments' owners
The apartment’s construction was largely funded by the Great Lakes Capital Fund, now called Cinnaire. Developers like Cinnaire find third-party investors to pay for the project up front in exchange for tax credits, and are the most common way affordable rental properties get built.
A grant from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development also supported resident rent. Rent is often paid through a housing choice voucher, grant money from Beacon, or disability income.
Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson said the city had been in conversation with Crawford’s owner and management for more than a year about improving living conditions.
“We believe that the providers are coming together now to actually make Crawford a success, but we did file a lawsuit to make sure that clock starts running,” Thomson said.
The city wants the apartments brought up to code by August, or the owners and managers could face legal action and fines.
Thomson said the city anticipates Crawford’s owner will comply.
The city has a list of changes it wants, starting with getting Crawford up to code. The city also wants more rigorous screening of residents, resident community meetings, evaluation of Continental’s property management staff, and additional training for Beacon’s case managers.
Beacon was short staffed, Thomson said. “So, the building is a critical part, but the support is as critical as the actual shelter over their heads.”
Forrest Gilmore, Beacon’s Executive Director, said he wants to collaborate more with property managers, especially in areas like tenant selection and eviction prevention.
Beacon Inc has been concerned about conditions at the apartments, Gilmore said. Because it doesn’t own or manage the facility, a large part of maintaining the apartments falls on management and owners. He added Beacon has a heavy investment in the units. Beacon runs a program called Crawford Homes. It places about 130 adults and children in permanent supportive housing, including the Crawford Apartments.
“We're absolutely committed and grateful that the city has stepped in to ensure that the property manager (makes repairs),” he said. “We are a team player, and so we're doing all we can to support property management and ensuring that happens.”
Beacon Inc received a five-year grant to increase on-site supportive housing staff from six to 10. It’s allocating $100,000 of grant money to cleaning the apartments, which Gilmore said is the most immediate concern.
“As part of this, we're working really closely with (management) to make sure that our on-site services are as strong as they can be,” he said.
The Crawford Apartments were built at a time when shelter and housing options were limited in Bloomington. Pressure was mounting to find solutions.
New Hope started a single-property emergency family shelter in 2011. Bloomington’s women’s shelter, Genesis, closed in 2012 because of funding and volunteer shortages. Wheeler Mission took over the Backstreet Missions shelters in 2016, significantly increasing capacity of sheltered men and closing its women’s shelter. Martha’s House, which opened in the 1990’s and later becoming Friend’s Place, is the oldest shelter in Bloomington.
Crawford Apartments is an example of a model to address homelessness called “Housing First.” With that, the immediate priority is to provide homeless people with permanent housing, even if they still have issues like addiction. Proponents say it’s humane and successful. Critics say it’s expensive and ineffective.
A 2011 broadcast of the WFIU program Noon Edition explored the issue of homelessness locally. Gilmore joined a panel with Jim Riley, then New Hope’s board president, and Lori Dimick of the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.
Dimick told hosts about state plans to bring permanent supportive housing to Bloomington as part of a national movement. The radio show’s call lines were full midway through the program.
One caller, Jennifer, was skeptical because of the “recidivism” problem. “We need to at the same time as we house people address these issues with doctors and other professionals that that would be able to help the people, since, as you mentioned, they do have more than just homelessness.”
Riley responded, “We're not going to solve these problems very quickly, but we can't forsake trying. There's no moral position you can stand in that lets you give up on these kinds of problems and on people who need help.”
Jennifer pushed back. “Do you have a plan?” she asked. “Do you have any kind of idea? Because it's a repeat of what's been going on for centuries.”
She proposed a rehab center with educational offerings and mental health services for people who are in and out of jail and rehabs.
On the show, Gilmore agreed that ideas like Jennifer’s are needed. “I've seen the HUD take a really strong stance in the last few years to end chronic homelessness and I want to see that continue and expand,” he said. “And it's going to take money. It's going to take a significant commitment on the part of our nation to solve, and our communities, local communities, to solve.”
According to a HUD report, between 2010 to 2011, most states saw a decrease in homelessness. Indiana was an outlier. Its count of homeless people increased by nearly 20 percent that year — among the five states with the largest increases. Reports lack information specific to Bloomington, but a local news report said the number of people booked at the Monroe County Jail without a permanent address or who were staying at a shelter more than doubled between 2007 to 2011.
Thomson, a long-time fixture in local housing, said more investment is needed for addiction and mental health services from the state and federal government.
“Because many people who are experiencing chronic homelessness really need hospitalization,” Thomson said. “They need longer term mental health care to get stabilized, and unfortunately, we just don't have those resources in the state of Indiana.”
The city also wants the Crawford Apartments to explore options for addiction and psychiatric care with Center Stone and have a faster response when property damage occurs. Thomson said management and Beacon are responsible for the apartments’ success.
Heading Home, a collaboration of groups working for housing stability in the region, was part of recent conversations to improve conditions at Crawford. Executive Director Mary Morgan said the apartments are important because of the people it helps.
“It's not a question of sustainability,” she said. “It's a question of our society's commitment to providing the kinds of resources that people need.”
Morgan said supporting Crawford is a challenge, because the Housing First model requires resources. But to her, there’s no alternative: “It's people living on the street and death.”
