Report from Community Discussions: White Flag Nights

We would like to thank everyone who came out to the community discussions about the relocation of Community House. It was helpful to hear the input and concerns of those in our community. As we have stated before, “we are community house,” and we all need to learn and work together to alleviate homelessness in Chapel Hill.

There have been many questions at community discussions about white flag nights (when weather conditions, safety, and health concerns for residents require floor space). At the third discussion Chris Moran reported some actual numbers based on IFC findings. These numbers are below.

The following is information gathered from the Bed Lists at Community House from January 2009 through December 2009: 
Number of men slept on overflow for the 12 months:   1,688
Number of days we slept men on overflow during the 12 months:    197
Highest number of men slept on any given day:       25
Lowest number of men slept on any given day:         1
Average number of men slept (1,688/365):          5

From July 1 through December 31 we looked at the names of the men who slept on overflow: 
Men slept: 563
Men who were not duplicated (slept on multiple nights): 177
Highest number of nights spent by any one man: 37

Lowest number of nights spent by any one man: 1