About United Caring Services

This week I’ve been putting up my Christmas tree, and I think about how I never used to decorate for Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving. As I get older I find that taking my time putting up the decorations early puts less stress on the holidays and gives me more time to enjoy the warm holiday glow. With that mindset we’ve been making plans to make this winter easier on our staff and guests.

While planning for this coming winter at the shelter, we made the decision to do a full 6 months of White Flag from November 1 to April 30. Our proactive plan came in handy as the temperature dipped below 40 degrees on October 23rd and we had to host White Flag that night. By having 6 full months of White Flag we accomplish several goals. It aligns as a first step toward Mayor Terry’s DH2030 plan for year-round White Flag.

It helps our guests have stability and provides them access to community partners like Aurora to get them working toward permanent housing. It also provides more structure for our staff who don’t have to wonder from day to day if we will have White Flag based on the temperature. We are already seeing that this proactive plan has been beneficial. Last year we did not have the first night of White Flag until November 20th, but this year we are already seeing low temperatures in the 30’s and next week it looks like we are getting down into the 20’s.

Besides expanding our White Flag program, some of our other accomplishments in 2025 include:

• We officially opened our Diversion Crisis Center and then expanded it from 4 beds to 5.
• We started the Care Ride program to provide transport for our guests to critical services including doctor appointments, pharmacies, government and social service agencies, and legal aid. The program is a combination of providing bus tokens, Lyft rides, and UCS vehicles.
• Building improvements have included a new backdoor and ADA ramp, a new commercial dishwasher, a new hot water heater, and replacing the main campus HVAC system.

Some of the building projects we are currently working on include:

• We are updating our 3rd and 4th floor apartments with new flooring and new kitchen appliances.
• We have purchased a new commercial stove for our Day Shelter as well as new kitchen appliances for Ruth’s House.
• We are working on a complete upgrade of our phone, internet, and security system.
• We are actively looking for a contractor to install new windows in our main campus building.

As we come to the end of the year, we hope you will consider supporting our mission. On January 31 we will have our White Flag Walk, which will kick off at 10:00 am from First Presbyterian Church and walk to United Caring Services and then back to the church. You can participate in the White Flag Walk, make a donation to the walk, or donate to any of our other programs. Donations can be restricted to White Flag or any of our other programs, or they can be an unrestricted gift for us to use as needed. Please note any restrictions on your check; otherwise, it will be considered unrestricted. If you have any questions about the White Flag Walk or any of our programs, please contact me at [email protected] or call us at 812-422-0297.  Thank you again for your past generous support of our mission, and we hope you make time to enjoy the warm glow of this holiday season.

Ryan Rigg

Ryan Rigg
Executive Director, United Caring Services