During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bloomington nonprofits are running low on supplies and volunteers. They need to continue to help people while trying to keep staff and visitors healthy.
Some Bloomington organizations are creating Amazon Wish Lists. An Amazon Wish List is a list of items created by an organization that lets the public know what products the organization needs to continue to help the people they serve. Then, people can purchase the items through Amazon and have them shipped to the organization, thus limiting contact with other people.
One of these nonprofit organizations is the Shalom Community Center.
Shalom Community Center’s Amazon Wish List includes items such as diapers, sleeping bags, toiletries, humidifiers, plasticware, styrofoam carryout containers and bottled water.
Shalom Community Center is a resource center in Bloomington for people experiencing poverty, hunger, homelessness or a lack of access to necessities. The center’s emergency shelter houses 40 people, Dorothy Granger, development director for Shalom Community Center, said.
“Our concern there is that people are sleeping in bunk beds, and they're head to toe,” Granger said. “We don't have that kind of luxury to have six feet between people.”
People not living in the center can come in if they’ve signed up to do laundry, take a shower or have an appointment with a caseworker, but they must leave when they’re done and not linger. Non-residents can still come in to use the restroom facilities.
“We've changed everything that we do pretty much in an attempt to keep our guests and staff healthy,” Granger said.
Shalom Community Center had to hire additional staff and ask part-time staff to work longer hours because most volunteers chose not to come in to prevent the spread of the virus.
“We have lost quite a few volunteers because of this pandemic,” Granger said. “We've only got staff.”
Another organization that has a wish list is Middle Way House, an organization that provides support, transitional housing, permanent housing and emergency help for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking.
Middle Way House’s Amazon Wish List includes items such as coloring books, board games, card games, bedding, hand sanitizer, diapers, towels and undergarments.
Middle Way House has an emergency shelter with 30 beds for survivors and their children and transitional housing with 28 two- and three-bedroom apartments for survivors and their children. Housing has not been limited during the pandemic, said Amalia Shifriss, outreach communications coordinator for Middle Way House.
Many employees have chosen to work from home, and Middle Way House is trying to keep staff inside the facilities minimal to prevent the spread of the virus. They sanitize the building every two hours. They have also turned a couple of offices into isolation rooms should anyone display symptoms, which hasn’t happened yet, Shifriss said.
Middle Way House is expecting many new clients after stay-at-home orders are lifted because there will be an increase in domestic violence cases due to people being home more, Shifriss said.
“We're just doing the best we can, like everyone else, trying to make sure that all of our services are still available,” Shifriss said. “We're definitely an essential service.”
Other Amazon Wish Lists can be found at the Bloomington Volunteer Network website.
