By Charlotte Murphy, IU Corps Intern
Middle Way House is a local Bloomington non-profit dedicated to helping people in crisis. They offer a range of empowering services including emergency shelter, a 24-hour help and crisis line, on-scene advocacy, support services, and transitional and permanent housing solutions for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking.
Kloe Timmons is the grants manager for Middle Way House. She manages all their local, state, and federal grant funding by applying, writing, and finding new grants. Before serving as the grant manager, Timmons worked in direct service with Middle Way House.
“In 2022, I started as a legal advocate where I worked with survivors of violence who were navigating the civil and criminal justice legal systems,” Timmons said. “I’ve always been really passionate about working with survivors of sexual assault. I saw Middle Way House and [its] mission, I just felt really compelled to apply [for a job to help with the mission]. Here I am today.”
In 1970, Middle Way was only a little house in downtown Bloomington who took in survivors escaping desperate situations. Now, Middle Way House has an emergency shelter here in Bloomington and they provide permanent supportive housing as well. Middle Way House also serves several counties in South Central Indiana.
“At first, our services were primarily oriented towards women, and we primarily did crisis intervention services,” Timmons said. “We’ve since evolved to where we are now. Our physical location is on S Washington St., [and] just a little bit down the road is our permanent supportive housing.”
Middle Way House has so many resources for people to use. The primary way to get in contact with Middle Way House is through their emergency crisis line. They have a phone number, (812)-336-0846, that people can call at any hour of the day, any day of the year.
“We’re open on weekends, evenings, and holidays,” Timmons said. “When you call the crisis line, you’ll be put in touch with a crisis intervention specialist. These specialists are staff members who are specifically trained to be picking up those [types of] phone calls.”
This past year, Middle Way House’s 24/7 crisis line received 5,699 survivor calls and their emergency shelter served 125 adults and 103 children. Their permanent supportive housing complex housed 32 families for 35 adults and 85 kids, with a total of 118 occupants.
Despite being a successful non-profit, Timmons mentioned they face struggles of being an independent entity.
“We are our own entity, but in working with this field, you really have to draw on the resources of other community members or other people nationally who are doing the same work. The national network to end domestic violence is especially helpful when we’re looking for guidance on like policy or standard practice,” Timmons said.
Recently, Middle Way House has had to navigate a new granting climate and federal grant cuts.
“That’s something that we’ve anticipated, but that still is really going to make an impact on our organization,” Timmons said. “While you know we really appreciate volunteers and we are always in need of volunteer work, monetary donations right now might be might hold a little bit more importance. We are so grateful for our volunteers and for the people that come in and do hands-on work with us. We’re always open to working with other people in our community who are interested in getting involved and same thing goes with individuals who want to donate to our cause.”
With over 10 different volunteer positions, Middle Way House is a great organization to volunteer for or support. To learn more about Middle Way House, check out their website.
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