By Emily Bollinger Tiny, colorful cabins make up Home Sweet Home Ministries' shelter village, The Bridge, in Bloomington, Illinois. Construction began in the summer of 2025. Emily Bollinger hide caption In the thick of winter a few months ago, Matthew Stone was living in a tent encampment in the woods of a central Illinois city. "It was very horrible, a very horrible experience," Stone said. "I was living in a tent with my dog. It was just, all in all, a horrible experience, very cold this winter." Temperatures in central Illinois averaged 20 degrees Fahrenheit, with a low of minus 8 in January. But three days before temperatures dropped below zero, the city of Bloomington opened its first shelter village. The Bridge is a tiny house community that offers people experiencing homelessness private spaces for sleeping and storing their belongings. A Housing shortage intensifies a homeless crisis.…