Sleeping Outside or Newly Homeless

• Call Coordinated Shelter Access

  Louisville's shelter reservation line, (502) 637-2337, published as open daily 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Outside that window it does not answer — Kentucky 211 does. The same number is published as the line for asking whether Operation White Flag is in effect.

1 more phone routes remain in the full online guide. This two-sheet packet keeps the first actions and a bounded handoff; it does not change or delete the authored guide.

• Open the connected journeyOpen the related preparation guide in the same journey system.

• ☐A charger
• ☐Water and snacks where permitted

• ☐ Identification, if available

  Some later intake or benefits processes may request identity information.

  If you do not have it: Use the document-recovery journey and ask each provider what can begin while replacement is pending.

  Worth asking about — not confirmed: Ask the specific provider what it can review; no substitute is represented as accepted.

• ☐ Health, medication, or accommodation information

  A receiving service may need enough information to discuss safe access and continuity.

  If you do not have it: Ask the issuing clinic or provider how records can be recovered or shared safely.

  Worth asking about — not confirmed: Ask what information is needed for an initial conversation.

4 more preparation details remain in the full online guide. This two-sheet packet keeps the first actions and a bounded handoff; it does not change or delete the authored guide.

1. 1.Is anyone in immediate medical danger or unsafe where they are now?
2. 2.Is the weather dangerous tonight, and is Operation White Flag in effect?
3. 3.Who is traveling together, including children, partners, pets, or support people?

Before leaving the counter, ask: “Is there anything else that could prevent this application from being approved today?”

3 more questions remain in the full online guide. This two-sheet packet keeps the first actions and a bounded handoff; it does not change or delete the authored guide.

• ☐ Louisville Metro housing information

  instructions

  Prepare for an official housing-navigation route: These records help identify a starting point; they do not show beds, openings, acceptance, or placement.

  Gather:

  No verified checklist is published in this record.

  Access or submit:

  UNKNOWN — confirm with the official owner.

  Checked:

  2026-08-04

  https://louisvilleky.gov/government/housing

  Limit: An information page is not proof that applications, appointments, units, or funding are currently available.

  If unavailable: Confirm the current source or edition with the official owner before relying on it.

2 more official form records remain in the full online guide. This two-sheet packet keeps the first actions and a bounded handoff; it does not change or delete the authored guide.

1. 1.Recheck the location, hours, appointment rules, and current document instructions before leaving.
2. 2.Keep originals and copies organized, and ask before handing over the only copy you have.
3. 3.At the counter, explain what is missing and ask what replacement or workaround evidence can be reviewed.

2 more before-you-go steps remain in the full online guide. This two-sheet packet keeps the first actions and a bounded handoff; it does not change or delete the authored guide.

• It is outside 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and nobody answers

  • → Call Kentucky 211, which answers 24 hours a day, and say plainly that the weather is dangerous and there is nowhere to go tonight.
  • → Seven Counties Services publishes an adult crisis line at (502) 589-4313 it states is staffed 24/7, 365 — a crisis line is a person at 3 a.m. when a reservation line is not.

• White Flag is not in effect, but staying outside is still unsafe

  • → Ask the same line what ordinary shelter options are taking referrals today — the protocol being inactive says nothing about routine capacity.
  • → Name the specific risk — a medical condition, an infant, no dry clothing — rather than the weather alone.

• → Use emergency services for immediate danger or a medical emergency.
• → Ask outreach, a public service desk, or another safe contact to help confirm the next available route.

10 more fallback details remain in the full online guide. This two-sheet packet keeps the first actions and a bounded handoff; it does not change or delete the authored guide.

• 911: Immediate danger or medical emergency. Call 911.
• 988: Mental health, emotional distress, suicide, or substance-use crisis. Call or text 988.
• Kentucky 211: Housing, food, utilities, transportation, and community services. Dial 211. Or text your ZIP code to 898211. Kentucky 211 answers 24/7.
• Never Use Alone: Overdose-response spotting when using alone. Call 800-484-3731. Or 877-696-1996. If an overdose is already happening, call 911.

• The Coalition for the Homeless operates Coordinated Shelter Access, Louisville's front door for emergency shelter reservations. Its published route is (502) 637-2337, daily from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., or csa@louhomeless.org. The office at 1300 S. 4th Street #250 is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Coalition publishes that Coordinated Shelter Access is closed on New Year's Day, MLK Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day, and that on those days a person should go directly to a single-adult emergency shelter — it also states that family shelters do not accept walk-ins. This route does not establish that a bed is available.

  Source: Coalition for the Homeless (Louisville) — Get Help — checked 2026-08-05

  https://louhomeless.org/news/gethelp/

• Louisville Metro publishes Operation White Flag, a severe-weather protocol. It states that during "a wind chill of below 35 degrees or a heat index over 95 degree, participating shelters will fly a white flag outside of their doors to indicate that White Flag is occurring," that "You may remain inside of the shelter as long as the flag is flying outside," and that White Flag also goes into effect when an ozone alert occurs. It says to call the Coordinated Shelter Access line at 502-637-BEDS — the same number as (502) 637-2337 — to find out whether White Flag is in effect on a given day. It names Wayside Christian Mission, 432 East Jefferson St., 502-742-7019, and Salvation Army Center of Hope, 911 South Brook St., 502-671-4904, as participating shelters — the Coalition for the Homeless publishes the Coordinated Shelter Access line as open daily from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., while NOLO has not verified when the two shelter numbers above are answered. Metro publishes two limits of its own: it states "If you are ineligible or banned from any particular shelter, it is up to the staff on whether or not you are allowed in," and it states that White Flag does not establish that a bed will be available. Metro states this information was compiled from the Coalition for the Homeless' Street Tips book. NOLO could not fetch louisvilleky.gov directly — it returns 403 to an automated request — so confirm the current protocol by calling.

  Source: Louisville Metro Office of Social Services — Operation White Flag — checked 2026-08-05

  https://louisvilleky.gov/government/homeless-services-division/operation-white-flag

Other routes for this situation are not verified yet. Absence from this list means NOLO has not checked it — not that it does not exist.

4 more checked source records remain in the full online guide. This two-sheet packet keeps the first actions and a bounded handoff; it does not change or delete the authored guide.

• • Current shelter, outreach, warming or cooling, and crisis access
• • Whether Operation White Flag is in effect on a given day, and which sites are participating

• • This guide does not make a legal, medical, safety, eligibility, or discharge decision.
• • A search result does not confirm funding, capacity, acceptance, or availability.

2 more limits and agency decisions remain in the full online guide. This two-sheet packet keeps the first actions and a bounded handoff; it does not change or delete the authored guide.