About United Caring Services

Spring is here! As daffodils start to bloom, trees start to bud, and grass turns green it certainly gives us a sense of energy and rebirth. It also energizes me to dive into all the things we need to do here at UCS.

This past November we increased the temperature for White Flag from 32 degrees to 40 degrees. Our first night of White Flag was November 20 and to date we have provided 97 nights. This included many nights during the ice storm in January. When most other businesses were closed during this time, we stayed open every day and night to provide a warm place and meals for our guests. Counting the number from each night, we have provided a place to sleep for 5,200 guests. As we are coming to the end of White Flag for this season, we are looking at long range plans to implement a similar program year-round to provide a place to sleep for those who have nowhere else to turn.

We are currently interviewing applicants to get our Diversion Center up and running full time and by the time you read this it should be fully functional. Our plan is to broaden our definition of the Diversion Center to a Crisis Center. While our focus will still be to provide temporary shelter for those experiencing mental or substance abuse issues, it will also serve as a safe space to help those who need a place separate from our existing shelters.

We are also looking into formalizing a Care Ride program which will help to transport our guests to critical services. These will include doctor appointments, pharmacies, government and social service agencies, and legal aid. The program will be a combination of providing bus tokens, gas cards, and utilizing UCS staff and organization owned vehicles.

In addition to the changes in our programs, we have also been going through some major building renovations. We recently had to install a new backdoor to our courtyard and ADA ramp. We also recently purchased a new dishwasher for the Day Shelter as the one we had was not heating to the proper temperature to sanitize dishes. We are also currently working with the City of Evansville to utilize CDBG funds to replace our HVAC system for the entire main campus as well as applying for other funds to fully revamp our phone/internet and security system.

Another project that we are working on that you can help us with is replacing all 98 windows in our main shelter. Several of the windows are in serious disrepair. At this point we have raised funds to cover about 30 of the windows, but we have several more that need to be replaced. The cost to replace each window is roughly around $500. If you can help us out with a donation, or if you know a company or organization that might be willing to help us out, it would be greatly appreciated.

Of course, any donation, large or small, is greatly appreciated. It can be restricted to help with a window or any of our other programs, or it 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 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 wishing you a season of renewal and growth!

Ryan Rigg

Ryan Rigg
Executive Director, United Caring Services