BLOOMINGTON — It’s about a half-mile walk off South Rogers Street, down a wide dirt path and then a narrow trail through the woods to the campsite Rob Lawson and Ashea Lucas call home.
Walk farther and you’ll encounter more hidden temporary homes, some made from tarps and tree limbs, in forest clearings where dozens of Bloomington’s unhoused residents are living — illegally.
A state law effective July 1 makes camping, living or sleeping on public property a misdemeanor that can result in arrest, 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.
Lucas has lived at the site, known as the “Thomson homeless camp” because it’s on 80 county-owned acres where the old RCA/Thomson radio and television factory was built in 1940, for about three years. A power substation is located on the site, which borders a Habitat for Humanity neighborhood. Bulldozers are clearing the way for a one-mile pedestrian and bike trail adjacent to the property.
The 38-year-old Bloomington native said she knows about the new law from reading news reports on her phone but isn’t worried.
“Some people did move to other places, and some went back into the woods. Nobody’s told us we have to move. There was just one cop that came out, and he was just looking for people with warrants. We’re kind of out of sight, out of mind when we’re back here.”
After a month, Bloomington police haven’t arrested anyone for violating the no-sleeping-outside law, which complicates downtown resource officers’ work building relationships and trust, said Brian Giffen, the city’s homeless response coordinator.
“We are committed to a compassionate approach that balances the needs of our unhoused neighbors with public safety,” he said.
But Monroe County might take action.
There was talk during the July 23 Monroe County Commissioners meeting about clearing out the camp because of citizen complaints and safety issues. “There’s increased activity at the Thomson site and it’s becoming more dangerous and a public safety concern,” county attorney Jeff Cockerill said.
The county may post 30-day notices on trees in the area, or the sheriff could send deputies onto county property to give the 48-hour notice to vacate that the law requires before returning to arrest people still there.
Lawson, 49, has lived on and off in the Thomson camp with Lucas for two years. He was arrested in California in 2014 for not paying child support, extradited to Indiana, jailed on a $30,000 bond and then spent six months incarcerated after pleading guilty.
“I’ve been chronically homeless,” he said, “ever since.” Over the next decade came arrests for theft, trespassing, fraud, public intoxication and robbery.
When Lawson was arrested this past April for visiting a common nuisance and auto theft (which was dismissed), he spent two months in the local jail. “That’s the hardest time I’ve done, worrying about her out here on her own,” he said.
“I can take care of myself,” Lucas responded. “But while he was in jail, my dad died.”
The morning of July 27, the two had cleaned up their campsite and were headed out to get their bedding from friends who let them use their washing machine. They were taking their scooter to an encampment where there’s a generator to charge it. They sometimes get sack lunches at the Shalom Center and dinner at the Community Kitchen. They keep a bag of snacks inside their tent.
They don’t want to move out of the Thomson campsite they have made their own. If the eviction notice gets posted, “I guess we’ll just go farther into the woods,” Lucas said.
Ending up in Bloomington
Jeremiah Benefiel sat shirtless on a metal park bench on South Walnut Street by Seminary Park, where some of Bloomington’s unhoused people spend the day. Beside him was a suitcase on wheels containing everything he owns.
Benefiel has been on the streets since his wife Beverly died in 2017. There’s a likeness of her tattooed on his right arm. “I took a bottle and went into the woods and soaked in my sorrow for two years,” he said.
He stays out of the homeless camps, “by myself away from all that. It’s a lot different than 10 years ago. Now there’s drugs and guns and knives and all of the anger.”
He cools off at the downtown library and sleeps in a recessed doorway of a lawyer’s office where the owners don’t mind. In his bag is a loaf of sandwich bread, a package of sliced bologna and a bottle of water he got from someone at Kroger.
“I call it B-town love,” Benefiel said. “I lost my shirt last night and look here, someone gave me theirs,” he said, holding up a black T-shirt.
Shalom Center caseworkers are helping him get food stamps, a Social Security card, a state ID and a place on the Section 8 housing wait list. Benefiel, who is from Columbus, was sleeping outside in Indianapolis recently when someone stole his belongings. “They took it all,” he said.
How did Benefiel end up in Bloomington? “It’s the only place I knew of where all the resources were.”
Bloomington responds with new initiative
Mayor Kerry Thomson said one reason for increasing street homelessness in Bloomington is just that: the city’s abundant social service agencies that address the issue but are overwhelmed because there are too many people to help.
In July 2025, Thomson said Bloomington can’t be the landing place for the state’s homeless.
She said mental health help, substance abuse treatment and housing will be provided to people from the federal region that includes Monroe, Morgan, Lawrence, Owen, Greene and Martin counties.
Police and other agencies must “cease sending people to Bloomington if they are not from here,” and stop transporting people to Bloomington for access to the city’s resources.
“Dropping them off here, they end up in encampments, and they lose any ties at all they have to family and friends who may be able to help them,” Thomson said.
As part of a new effort to address street homelessness in Bloomington, Heading Home of South Central Indiana on June 30 announced an initiative to move people directly from homeless camps to indoor housing. A $350,000 private foundation grant will fund housing for 10 to 12 people, said Mary Morgan, Heading Home’s executive director.
The collaboration brings together government, business, philanthropy, healthcare and faith communities to provide permanent housing and support. It’s set to launch in mid-August. The focus is downtown Bloomington, not homeless camps farther out and hidden.
“We are recommending a downtown zone to ensure support is provided where it is most needed for individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness,” Giffen said, “as well as addressing the issues affecting the broader community.”
FPI News, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations. Sign up for our free newsletter.
FPI News reporter Laura Lane covers the people and issues of rural Indiana. Reach her at 812-760-1540 or laura.lane@fpinews.org.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
