The Shalom Community Center Mission
The Shalom Community Center is a safe, daytime resource center for people experiencing homelessness and poverty.
Shalom Community Center is dedicated to relieving the plight of people experiencing homelessness and poverty in South Central Indiana. Since access to food, housing, education, and health and human services are fundamental human rights, we seek to meet these basic needs. As a nonprofit resource center, we deliver social services directly and in coalition with other agencies in a respectable, secure environment. We advocate for the most vulnerable among us and promote ties that empower people to develop their potential and to take responsibility for their own lives.
We Need Your Help!
Shalom Community Center is committed to providing essential resources to both prevent and address homelessness in these difficult economic times. But we can’t do it alone!
Right now, we are completely out of diapers and wipes, and we are in desperate need of toiletries. We are also in need of donations of office supplies.
Would you consider adding a few of those items to your next shopping list? Your donations ensure that we can continue to be a central access point for our neighbors experiencing poverty.
A few items from our Wish List:
Diapers
Baby wipes
Toothpaste
Tooth brushes
Travel size shampoo & conditioner
Soap
Copy paper, white and colored
Ruled, letter-size, legal pads
Tape
Pens
Pencils
Styrofoam coffee cups – 8 oz.
Tea bags – individual serving
Sugar
Powdered creamer
Diaper changing table liners
Vinyl gloves
Ziplock style bags – sandwich size
Disinfectant wipes
A Story of Hope
When Bob and Loretta lost their jobs, they tried for months to find work. Despite their best efforts, so many local businesses were suffering from layoffs, the couple simply could not find employment. Soon, they started having trouble making their mortgage payment.
Unwilling to lose their home, Bob and Loretta went in search of work elsewhere. They traveled to the Gulf Coast, where they had been told they could find work with FEMA doing Hurricane Ike cleanup. By the time they made it to Texas, however, the FEMA contract had been cancelled, and the couple was left to search for temporary work – everything from Homeland Security projects to storefront cleanup.
Bob and Loretta spent most of their time living on crowded campgrounds with people displaced by the storm, saving money so they could pay their mortgage and save their home.
A few days before Christmas, after 3 months in Texas, Bob learned that his father had been diagnosed with cancer, so they returned to try to support him. In the meantime, Loretta was struggling with serious health problems of her own.
The couple decided to rent out their home until they could gain financial stability and continued their search for work. They stayed with family friends for awhile, but are now living out of their Chevy Blazer. Bob is still looking for a job, but he explains, “right now my primary concern is trying to keep Loretta out of the emergency room.”
When they heard about Shalom Community Center from a friend of a friend, Bob and Loretta found the help they have long needed. Here, they were able to obtain clothing, a place to do laundry, warm meals, use of a telephone, and more. They have also made valuable connections to other local services like PATH and St. Vincent de Paul.
“It has been so heartwarming,” says Loretta. “Last night I found myself just crying and praying to God, thanking him for this help. I feel like all these people around here are angels.”
The couple’s main goal is to find stability again. They continue their search for jobs, housing, and healthcare, now with a renewed sense of hope. “The resources here have just amazed us,” says Bob. “And the food is good too!” adds Loretta.
Your support provides that hope to Bob, Loretta, and hundreds more people who come to Shalom for assistance. We invite you to be a part of their stories by getting involved today.
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Special thanks to First United Methodist Church, First Christian Church, and Trinity Episcopal Church for their extreme generosity in donating such wonderful spaces to our organization!!! Thanks to Cresent Donut, the Bakehouse, Bloomington Bagel Company, Bloomingfoods, and Hoosier Hills Food Bank for all of your wonderful food donations!
Shalom Community Center, 219 East Fourth Street, P.O. Box 451, Bloomington, Indiana 47402-0451, admin@shalomcommunitycenter.org
