New Carlisle holds working session on homelessness, elder care and dilapidated housing

City of New Carlisle elected officials, first responders and community nonprofits met in a special working session to discuss a cluster of human-service problems — rising visible homelessness, frail or isolated elderly residents and dangerous housing conditions — and to identify short‑ and medium‑term steps for better local coordination.

The session centered on why those problems matter in New Carlisle: Mayor Bill Cook and City Manager Don Hall described repeated emergency calls and individual cases that local responders are handling without reliable county or regional follow‑up. “If we can't take care of our own folks, you know, it's kind of hard to get to the second and third layer issues that we have,” City Manager Don Hall said.

Chief Steve Trustee of New Carlisle Fire & EMS told the council that “most of our runs in the city area ... are EMS calls,” and described frequent responses to elderly residents living alone, hoarding situations and some deaths discovered after a long interval. Deputy Jacob O'Brien of the Clark County Sheriff's Office said community interactions vary widely: “Depends on the person,” he said, when asked whether residents are hostile to deputies or open to assistance.

Of…