Cold spell not affecting shelter space

Despite single digit weather and sub-zero windchills, local shelters offering warm meals and lodging have not seen a significant increase in visitors. \nRepresentatives from three local agencies -- the Community Kitchen, the Shalom Community Center and Shelter, Inc. -- say attendance has not changed the past week. \nThe number of visitors to the Shalom Community Center, an organization located in First United Methodist Church that provides day lodging and food for anyone who needs it, soared last Wednesday, but decreased Thursday. \n"It seemed to be so cold that only the people who live really close ventured out of their housing to come," said Shirley St. John, treasurer of the Board of Directors for Shalom Center.\nSt. John said the center's high numbers last Wednesday resulted not from the temperature's sudden dip, but because the food pantry, which takes place every Wednesday at the Shalom Center, was open. She said the pantry's business booms during the winter because people have exhausted their money for food on utilities.\nAlthough the number of people at the center during the rest of the week has stayed the same, she says the number of requests for blankets -- for sleeping outside at night -- is up. The center does not house people overnight.\n"I saw a lot of people I know who sleep out come in this morning and I thought, 'Good grief how did you do it?'" St. John said.\nPeople have been staying longer during the day at the center, attempting to get as much warmth as possible, she said. \n"In this kind of weather, people don't leave. So, this place gets crowded," St. John said.\nIn many cases, attendance at shelters decreases, instead of swells, during frigid weather. St. John attributes this fact to transients -- homeless people who trek south at the start of the winter to escape the cold. \nDamian Dittmer, the assistant facilities manager at Shelter, Inc., 919 S. Rogers St., echoes this idea. \nHe said Shelter, Inc., a non-profit organization that provides lodging and support for people who are homeless, has had stationery numbers most likely because of transients. \nThe shelter's numbers peak during the summer, when homeless people are back north, Dittmer said.\nShelter, Inc.'s Single Adult Emergency shelter still has open beds.\nThe number of "emergency" families -- for example people who lose their housing because they cannot afford utilities -- at the shelter is high during the winter. The waiting list at Shelter, Inc., typically runs between 20 and 30 families year-round, Dittmer said. \n"This area needs an emergency shelter. The average stay is between two and three months, so waiting lists do not move quickly," he said. "Families are suffering in this community because we just don't have facilities for them." \nIn larger cities like Indianapolis, homeless people often take refuge in abandoned homes, but that rarely occurs in Bloomington, said Sgt. David Drake of the Bloomington Police Department, because the city has few vacant structures. \n"There are rare instances when that has happened in the past, largely because we don't have that many abandoned buildings in Bloomington," Drake said.\nHe also cites Bloomington's Department of Housing and Neighborhood Development, which monitors abandoned buildings and ensures they're properly sealed so people cannot enter them. He says myriad city ordinances also prevent homeless people from living in such buildings. \nDrake says the city contains several shelters for people who are homeless.\n"There are adequate shelters and facilities in Bloomington. It becomes a problem when they chose not to take advantage of those shelters for various reasons," Drake said.\nCraig Howerton, executive director for Shelter, Inc., says people will do whatever they can, such as staying with friends or relatives, to get warmth. He has heard of homeless people sleeping in their cars to escape the cold. But a problem exists. \n"I've heard of people sleeping in their cars, but with this kind of weather, that's not a viable option," Howerton said. \nBloomington families without cars can suffer further from the arctic chill because it can prohibit them from getting meals at places such as the Community Kitchen, 917 S. Rogers St., Adam Sommer, the kitchen's evening supervisor, said.\nAlthough the last half of a month at the kitchen usually sees increased business, the last few days have been slower. Sommer said the weather is too cold to get out in. \n"I think a lot of people probably have a difficult time getting over here in this weather," Sommer said. "Most people walk here." \nCommunity Kitchen used to provide bus tickets for people to come to the kitchen so they would not have to walk, but because of insufficient finances and people abusing the system, the kitchen stopped distributing the tickets, Sommer said. \n"We wish we could do more, but it's just a really difficult task for us," he said.