BLOOMINGTON - Shasta Jones hasn't really had a permanent home since moving to Bloomington about 10 years ago. She's lived in three apartments and bounced from Home Sweet Home Ministries' Billy Shelper Center to friends' apartments to hotel rooms with five children in tow.

The children, and a sixth born about 10 months ago, have been placed in foster care because of her homelessness, she said.

Now she hopes she's on the road to getting them back.

Jones, 29, moved into The Salvation Army's new Safe Harbor, 601 W. Washington St., on May 15. She's one of about six women and 38 men at the shelter. The old facility, 212 N. Roosevelt Ave., stopped accepting women in 2005 because it contained lead-based paint, a health hazard to children.

"It's wonderful here," said Jones. "We have our own little spaces in the sleeping area. We're like family."

She meets with a caseworker and has a "service plan" to help her eventually get out on her own. She takes classes at Chestnut Health Systems, has a domestic violence assessment, takes parenting courses and has a mental health screening.

She's applied for unemployment benefits and for financial assistance through Bloomington Township. Each week, Occupational Development Center workers take her and others at the shelter to businesses to apply for jobs.

Jones needs to have her own home and a job for at least six months before she can start the process of getting her kids back.

"Overall, I like it," she said of her stay at the shelter. "The Salvation Army is dedicated to helping us."

'More convenient'

The shelter, which opened May 8, includes services formerly were offered at Compassion Center in the basement of Second Presbyterian Church.

"The resources are more convenient with the other agencies in this building," said Safe Harbor Director Tom Fulop.

The $2.5 million building is quite a change from the 150-year-old Roosevelt building. Jeremy Medcalf has stayed a short time in both.

"It wasn't very good living quarters," Medcalf said of the old building. "This is a lot better. The bathrooms are more convenient; we're not waiting in a long line."

The old shelter only one bathroom for 40 to 60 men who sought shelter. The new facility has three shower stalls, two toilets, three sinks and two urinals.

Fulop said the facility has been very busy since opening, accommodating 56 percent more people than the old facility did this time last year.

About 3,700 meals were served out of the new kitchen in May. Breakfast and supper are served each day and lunch is served three days a week.

Connie Wilson, hired as a full-time cook for the new building, said the kitchen is easier and more convenient. In the old building, she had to use a stick to keep the oven door closed. The new kitchen also has a dishwasher, which means Safe Harbor can serve meals on dishes rather than paper plates.

As with most new buildings, there have been a few minor problems. A shower drain needs to be redesigned and staff still is trying to get use to the programmable thermostats in each of the dorms, said Capt. Scott Shelbourn.