The winter season is a more dangerous and painful experience for those who are unhoused to undergo, Beacon Executive Director Forrest Gilmore said.
Due to freezing temperatures, snowy and icy conditions, shelters experience much more activity with unhoused individuals seeking a safe place to be, Gilmore said. It’s common for unhoused people to experience injuries like frostbite during the coldest time of year.
“We see people losing fingers and toes because of the horrible conditions out there,” he said.
Shelters in Bloomington are available for people who need them. Here is a list of shelters:
Shalom Center is a daytime shelter open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. It offers a daytime sleep room, restrooms, showers, hygiene products, clothes, shoes, sleeping bags, laundry facilities and other essentials. It’s located on 620 S. Walnut St. Its phone number is 812-334-5728. Additionally, located inside of Shalom is Phil’s Kitchen, which offers breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday — 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. and noon to 1:30 p.m. On holidays the kitchen is open 8 a.m. to noon and serves one meal.
Friend’s Place is an overnight shelter that opens daily at 5:15 p.m. and closes at 7:45 a.m. Individuals must be 18 years old or older and cannot be under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs. The shelter provides 40 beds with most of the beds reserved for women. Guests should arrive when the shelter opens and Monroe County residents are given priority. It’s located at 919 S. Rogers St. Its number is 812-332-1444. Well-behaved pets are welcome.
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Wheeler Mission Center offers overnight shelter only for men. It has 80 beds and offers limited overflow mats. Check-in is from 7 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily. Overnight referrals for men accepted from police and service providers, case management required for individuals with recent violence history and service animals only with vaccination documentation required. Wheeler Mission also has a dayroom open to the public, including women, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. It has services such as showers, restrooms, clothes, toiletries, internet access, laundry and phones. Wheeler Mission also serves three meals a day to anyone: breakfast 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., lunch noon to 1 p.m. and dinner 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. It’s located at 215 S. Westplex Avenue. Its phone number is 812-333-1905.
New Hope for Families offers shelter to families with children. No marriage requirement is needed. New Hope has the capacity to hold 12 families. It’s located at 1140 S. Morton St. Its number is 812-334-9840; call to check space availability.
Additionally there is Middle Way House, a domestic violence shelter, which offers emergency shelter for individuals and families who are survivors of domestic violence. It has 30 beds. It’s located at 338 S. Washington St. Its number is 812-336-0846; call for availability.
There is also the Monroe County Youth Services Bureau, which offers emergency shelter for 10-to-17 year olds. It has a capacity of 15. It’s located at 615 S. Adams St. Its number is 812-349-2506. To access the YSB shelter, call the 24/7 line or go to a designated Safe Place. If a minor is at a place where they can’t be sheltered due to their age, YSB staff can transport them to the YSB shelter, but only from a Safe Place location.
Monroe County has a winter contingency plan that is in effect from Nov. 1 to March 31 providing emergency shelter options, crisis services, transportation and other resources. The plan includes white flag protocols that when activated provide expansion of shelter availability and in some cases shelter restrictions may be more relaxed.
White flag protocols are activated when the temperature is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, wind chills reach below 20 degrees Fahrenheit or when snow/ice storm warnings are issued.
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Backup overnight shelters that are available when activated are located at First Christian Church: 205 E. Kirkwood Ave. (Washington Street entrance), First United Methodist Church: 219 E. 4th Street (4th Street entrance) or First Presbyterian Church: 221 E. 6th St. Locations are rotated.
Daytime warming centers are available when activated at multiple fire stations and county libraries.
The Stride Center at 312 N. Morton St. also offers crisis interventions and winter outreach. Its number is 812-650-4878.
Gilmore said not only does Monroe County not have enough shelters, but neither do surrounding counties. Most of rural Indiana lacks emergency services for people experiencing homelessness, he said.
“That creates pressure on urban centers, which tend to have these services, because people flee these communities needing some help,” he said.
During winter months shelters will benefit from winter gear donations such as coats, hats, gloves, long underwear, sleeping bags, socks, blankets that can handle wet weather (not cotton), and hand warmers.
People who are not struggling with being unhoused know what it’s like be in the cold but have protected spaces like homes, cars, school or work that limit their time in the cold weather, unlike people are who unhoused, Gilmore said.
“They don't always have that safe place to flee to immediately, so they have to manage to navigate it in, you know, outside and so anything that can really kind of give them some kind of barrier to the cold and the weather, the precipitation, the snow, is something that might keep them going a little bit longer,” he said.