The Homeless Coalition of Southern Indiana’s white flag program started in 2016 to provide emergency shelter during harsh weather. The shelter opens when night time temperatures are expected to reach 35 degrees or below for at least four hours. The program gives clients a safe place to sleep, meals and access to services like health care and substance use treatment.
Director Leslea Townsend Cronin said the organization has been seeing an increase in people using the shelter, and this year’s early cold snap has pushed more people indoors.
The shelter opens from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. mid November through mid April. So far this year, they’ve seen an average of around 30 people a night; they usually see 10 to 20 this time of year.
“But when it gets really cold, we see those numbers starting to increase,” she said. “And unfortunately, our unhoused population is growing. It's not shrinking. And so we're seeing more and more people from all over Southern Indiana utilizing our shelter.”
But as need has increased, funding for the program has dropped, and Townsend Cronin said they need more support from municipalities to keep the doors open next season.
White flag is not a permanent homeless shelter — it’s part of the region’s winter weather contingency plan. Townsend Cronin said that means they don’t receive state or federal funding the way a permanent homeless shelter would.
The coalition received a combined $150,000 from Jeffersonville and New Albany in both 2016 and 2017. Since then they’ve also survived on private donations and COVID relief funding, which stopped last fall.
Townsend Cronin said the organization requested $70,000 this year between some municipalities and the Floyd County Legacy Foundation. They’ve been awarded $10,000 from those asks — $5,000 from the Foundation and $5,000 from the Clarksville Town Council.
Townsend Cronin said the coalition didn’t ask the New Albany City Council this year but said they’ve received support from the city in the past. She said they applied for a federal Community Block Development Grant this year through New Albany but didn’t get it.
The white flag program costs around $175,000 to operate annually. Townsend Cronin said they’re still going to pursue other funding options “but if we don’t get that support from municipalities, we can’t keep going,” she said.
The funding instability comes as they’ve seen an increase in unhoused people in Southern Indiana, including younger and older adults.
That could be due, in part, to an increase in the organization’s street outreach and identifying people who could benefit from case management.
But they’re also seeing the effects of inflation, and of more people unhoused due to eviction. Townsend Cronin said the addition of more treatment facilities is a factor too.
Someone might have transportation to get to a facility but once they’re out, don’t have a way to get home and get stranded.
The coalition is partnering with other groups to help with this, but it’s not always easy to identify the people that need this support.
The uptick in residents using the shelter could also indicate more people know where it is.
Last fall, the coalition secured a more permanent location for white flag and for the homeless coalition’s operations throughout the year. Townsend Cronin previously told LPM News before getting that, it had been an ongoing struggle to find a space each white flag season.
She said the new location provides more consistency and makes it easier for guests, volunteers, law enforcement and community providers to know where they are. She said it’s also helped with recruiting volunteers year-round.
She said the program can be crucial for safety and for helping people get the services they need. And it’s support she said the homeless coalition hears guests appreciate.
“Coming here makes them feel seen, and then sitting down with the volunteer and just talking with them also makes them feel heard,” she said. “It's one of those places they can get some of that camaraderie, but also get supportive services.”
The white flag program is held at Culbertson Baptist Church, 4007 Grant Line Road in New Albany. To check the status of white flag each day, call 812-913-5368 or check the organization’s Facebook page. More information can be found here.
Coverage of Southern Indiana is funded, in part, by Samtec Inc., the Hazel & Walter T. Bales Foundation, and the Caesars Foundation of Floyd County.
