Thanks to the Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund, Housing Action Illinois subgranted $15,000 to Home Sweet Home Ministries to support the agency’s work providing interim housing and emergency shelter to individuals and families experiencing homelessness or who are unstably housed.
The pandemic forced Home Sweet Home Ministries to center its priorities: providing shelter and emergency food assistance to people in DeWitt, Livingston, McLean, Ford, and Platt counties.
The organization has altered its procedures to prevent infection and encourage social distancing among its residents. Home Sweet Home also temporarily suspended in-person volunteer activities to prevent the spread of COVID-19. It has since resumed volunteer training, while observing social distancing practices.
With safety protocols in place, the Bloomington-based organization continues to provide emergency shelter, offer case management on a weekly basis, and offer residents three meals a day, along with snacks. The organization is also distributing boxes of food to those in need during the pandemic. A $15,000 subgrant from Housing Action Illinois, thanks to the Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund, is helping Home Sweet Home Ministries provide services.
“Our focus is on the people who stay in our shelter, the men and women that stay in our shelter—providing them with meals three times a day and we are also trying to reach out to our community by providing sack lunches and food boxes for people in need,” Chief Executive Officer Mary Ann Pullin told WJBC in March.
