OLIVIA JACOBS
BLOOMINGTON -- Mid Central Community Action held a "CommunityCon" gaming event on Saturday to raise money for the nonprofit's Mayors Manor.
MCCA, at 1301 W. Washington St. in Bloomington, works to combat homelessness and domestic violence, and also promotes financial stability.
Mayors Manor, just down the street at 504 W. Washington St., offers 26 units of permanent, supportive housing to local residents.
"So that helps individuals that have some kind of disability, either mental or physical, and that were homeless previously," said Joey Keller, director of Next Step and Mayors Manor for MCCA. "They all have efficiency units over there, their own bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, closets. It's just one of the ways that we help give back to the community."
The "CommunityCon" event offered a variety of games, including Nintendo Switch, a walkable virtual reality game, computer games, arcade cabinets, claw machines, board games, and color pages for kids and adults, plus chips and water for concessions. Attendees could play any of the games for a $10 entry free.
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Eric Even, the event organizer with Mandatory Fun Facility, put on a similar event this past February for Western Avenue Community Center. Even has worked on IT with MCCA for nearly nine years through Integrity Technology.
Keller said they expected around 30 to 40 visitors throughout the day, as that was the estimated attendance at Western Avenue's event.
Even puts on the event for free, as the games come from his own personal collection, which he said includes over 200 board games. He added he's had a good relationship with MCCA, which is why he wanted to host the event for them.
"Meeting new people," Even said of why he enjoys putting on the gaming events. "(I've) met a good chunk of my friend group through events like this."
Even said he has been doing this for 10 years, starting in 2014. He's originally from the Chicago area, but came to Bloomington-Normal for school and never left, he said.
Calvin Kruse, who helped run the walking VR game, said he met Even in 2017 and joined him in the Mandatory Fun Facility venture shortly after that.
Even said he would like to continue putting on similar events for other nonprofits, potentially bringing out more obscure games that people have likely seen before but have not had a chance to play.
"It's just something family-friendly for people to come up to on a Saturday," Keller said.
In addition to attending events, Keller said the community can support MCCA through donations and through volunteering.
"One of the big things over at Mayors would be people that might just put on classes for our residents. It could be like an arts and crafts night, or maybe a pizza party, or just some of those small little things to get our residents out of their rooms and interacting with the community," he said. "You're always very much appreciated over there."
Keller is also director of MCCA's Next Step Financial Opportunity Center, which offers financial education and coaching, employment coaching and career services, access to income support services, homeownership/homebuyer education, debt reduction coaching and credit building.
MCCA has a 24-hour domestic violence hotline (309-827-7070), which provides access to court advocates to help out with protection orders as well as access to shelter, counseling and more.
MCCA's next event will be its second annual Wine Down Wednesday set for Wednesday, Dec. 4, at McLean County Arts Center, 601 N. East St., Bloomington. Drinks, food and event sponsorships are available for the event. The money raised will support all of MCCA's programming.
Contact Olivia Jacobs at 309-820-3352. Follow Olivia on Twitter: @olivia___jacobs
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