Reposted with permission of The Pantagraph By Kevin Barlow; Photos by Lewis Marien BLOOMINGTON — A proposed redevelopment of the West Market Street Plaza will become a reality soon due to strong support from the business and residential community say two west side Bloomington leaders behind the project. About 60 people attended a community forum…

By Munashe Kwangwari III Reposted from CIProud BLOOMINGTON — The Illinois Prairie Community Foundation awarded YWCA McLean County a grant of $1,645. The grant money will be used to create and educate students in YWCA’s Young Wonders Youth Development program about anti-bias. View video on program. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, more than one…

Reposted with permission of WGLT By Eric Stock A free job training site for women is starting its first classes Monday (Dec. 9, 2019) after renovating a dilapidated building on Bloomington’s west side. Dreams Are Possible gutted an old grocery store at 1311 W. Olive St. and built a classroom and workspace to prepare women to…

Reposted from Illinois Country Living By Lisa Cherry Valerie Beguin paints a picture of the scenes she encountered as a former investigator with Illinois Department of Child and Family Services: A phone call is made to the Illinois Child Abuse Hotline, which initiates an investigation within 24 hours. The anonymous caller reports seeing his neighbor…

Reprinted with permission of ISU News By Kate Arthur Gym class was the worst part of Jon Miskulin’s day in junior high. Changing clothes in the locker room was torture, so he would change into his PE uniform in the nurse’s office. When he would get home, he would tell his mom he felt beat…

Reprinted with permission from The Pantagraph By Paul Swiech, Pantagraph Health Editor, Photos by David Proeber BLOOMINGTON — Construction of the house at 1108 S. Oak St. has gone “swimmingly well,” and the construction manager and a project partner know one reason why. “There is no house built with more love,” Vonda Rodgers said. “All…

Reprinted with Permission of The Pantagraph By Maria Nagle; photos by Lewis Marien and Lori Ann Cook Neisler BLOOMINGTON — When the Evergreen Cemetery Walk was started 25 years ago cemetery vandalism was a major problem, especially in Bloomington’s oldest cemetery. “The issue of vandalism in cemeteries has not gone away,” said Candace Summers, director…

By Michele Evans, Grants & Communications Director When Cecily, 27, arrived in Bloomington with her four young children, she was fleeing a bad relationship and seeking a new direction for her life and that of her children. With the help of local social service agencies, she received crisis housing and was referred to The Salvation…

By Michele Evans, Grants & Communications Director Ideas, like plants, need a nurturing location in which to grow and take root. The West Bloomington Revitalization Project, at the corner of Washington and Allin streets, offers the perfect environment for ideas to germinate and blossom. It is the growing ground for many west-side community projects like…

Reprinted with permission from The Pantagraph By Paul Swiech, Health Editor; Photos by David Proeber BLOOMINGTON — Gloria McKittrick, her sister Patricia Killian and brother Greg Erickson walked through the former neighborhood grocery store once owned and operated by their great-grandfather and grandparents at 1311 W. Olive St., Bloomington. “I love seeing the old, wood…