Much-needed expansion is on the way for the Shalom Community Center, where, on most days, people outnumber the chairs. Plates of hot corn, beans and potatoes tend to get eaten by guests while sitting on the floor or outside beneath the rail.

This fall, the Center will expand into a vacant building directly across the north alley. The feeding program will occupy the new site, while the social services will remain in the current location.

"We don't have enough space," said Executive Director Joel Rekas. "We've grown so quickly."

Rekas is navigating his way through the cramped Center, tending to a stream of nearly 100 guests, which is what those who utilize Shalom's services are called.

Yes, he says, the Office of Family and Children is coming today to distribute food stamps. No, the computer room is locked right now. And hey! The desert tray is running low.

Shalom Time. That's what Rekas calls the hectic noon hour when the all-orange walls of the church basement fill with homeless and low-income citizens who come for free meals.

You quickly discover that Shalom is a community within a community.

"This is a place people trust," Rekas said. "Everyone is welcome here. Some we only see once. Others have been coming here since we opened."

The Center's mission is more relevant than ever. The number of low-income citizens in Bloomington has "absolutely risen" since its opening five years ago, Rekas said.

"Monroe County appears to be prosperous, and is on many levels," he said. "But poverty is very pervasive and tends to be invisible."

This month, Shalom Center is launching a Family Homelessness Prevention Project to impact the growing number of families with children who are slipping into homelessness. It will also soon establish a security fund for low-income citizens that will assist in making the security deposit payments on housing.

"No agencies currently do that," Rekas said.

At some point far in the future, the Center also hopes to open its own health clinic on-site. Rekas said inadequate health care is devastating to the homeless and working poor. He said many citizens seen at Shalom are sick and receiving no care.

Shalom recently published its first quarterly newspaper called Safety-Net, which provides information about community social services. Mainstream media typically only publish stories on the homeless during the holidays, Rekas said. The paper hopes to keep the issue on people's minds year round.

The Center grew out of a long conversation in Bloomington on the question, "Where do homeless people go during the day?" But that hardly explains their current mission. Shalom is much more than just a homeless hangout.

Those with low incomes receive free groceries, telephone calls, bus tickets, diapers, breakfast and lunch. Shalom also brings more than 20 government and non-profit agencies on-site, providing convenient access to an otherwise intimidating bureaucracy.

"We act as a support system for those who have lost theirs," Rekas said.

Trust is a major element of the Shalom way. Life crises are dealt with immediately, like a mother and child with nowhere to go, or a sick patient who has run out of medicine. The Center asks few questions of those who come in.

"We let you tell us what it is you need," Rekas said. "It's more effective, and we have a better chance of success working this way."

Charles Starnes has been coming to Shalom since it opened. A disability prevents him from working, so he receives a monthly Social Security pension plus Medicaid benefits. He's seen a lot of people get back on their feet at Shalom. But others continue to struggle near the bottom.

"You have to learn to tap the resources here and not give up," he said. "Some get discouraged, and unless you're strong, you get screwed. I've lived it, so I know."

Starnes, once homeless, has now moved into Section Eight government housing. Some of the social programs work, he said. But try stretching $19 in food stamps across a whole month. Bet you can't.

He still comes to Shalom to do laundry for the few dollars it saves and to take a bag of groceries back home with him.

"Without Shalom I wouldn't eat," he said, shaking his head.

Adam VanOsdol can be reached at avanosdo@indiana.edu.