Lightkeepers of Henry County Case Study

About Lightkeepers of Henry County

Lightkeepers of Henry County is a grassroots nonprofit organization based in New Castle, Indiana. It began informally in 2020 with a community vigil, where organizers realized that local residents wanted more activities centered on culture, diversity, and understanding. Lightkeepers became a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2023 and soon afterward acquired its own building.

Guided by its core values of equity, education, diversity, and empathy, Lightkeepers aims to provide a safe place where everyone in the community feels appreciated and has a sense of belonging. Its programs focus on marginalized communities, including low-income residents, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQIA+ community. The organization hosted the first Juneteenth celebration in Henry County, organizes New Castle Pride, and runs food and blanket drives, festivals, and community meetings. Following historic flooding in the area, it is also hosting home damage assessments for affected residents.

The Challenge

Lightkeepers is based in the former Westminster Community Center, a two-story cement building that has long been a staple of the neighborhood. Over the years, it has served as an elementary school, a community center with after-school programs and classrooms, and most recently a food pantry. The building includes a large gym, several ground-floor rooms, an upstairs kitchen, classroom area, and offices, and an attached garage.

Before Lightkeepers took it over, the building had been largely vacant, opening for only a few hours, two days a week, for food distribution. It is located in a low-income area with limited police patrols, and the parking lot was so poorly lit that the team repaired the light themselves. A city park directly behind the building had become a meeting place for illegal and unsafe activity.

Today, the building is in use throughout the day. With no set opening hours, it hosts fundraisers, community meetings, training sessions, birthday parties, and baby showers, with anywhere from four to more than 120 people inside at any one time. Festivals and other events also take place in the parking lot. During summer 2026, Lightkeepers partnered with fellow nonprofit Live Coalition to run the Hangout Hub, a weekday program offering activities and free meals for children aged 10 and over.

Lightkeepers needed a way to protect the building and its contents, and to keep children and visitors safe while they were on-site. Board members, who often come and go outside of normal hours, needed to see what was happening in the building and parking lot before arriving or leaving. As an older building with boiler heating, the property was also at risk from problems that could go unnoticed when nobody was there.

“After we acquired the building, we knew that we would need to be able to watch what we had, because of the neighborhood it’s in. We definitely needed some sort of security, and we wanted safety for the kids in the gym,” says Mary Nicholson Tait, President, Lightkeepers of Henry County.

The Solution

Lightkeepers worked with SONITROL and 3xLOGIC to install video surveillance and monitored intrusion detection across the building, parking lot, and perimeter. The system was completed in 2024.

A mix of 3xLOGIC indoor and outdoor cameras watches the building inside and out. A 360-degree camera mounted in the center of the gym ceiling gives full visibility of the space, while a camera in the entrance lobby covers the main entry point. Outside, cameras cover each side of the building, including edge-based deep learning cameras that, if required, can detect people and vehicles and identify details such as vehicle make, model, and color.

A 3xLOGIC VISIX 5MP InterACT camera on the front of the building overlooks the parking lot. The camera combines high-quality video with edge-based deep learning analytics and built-in deterrence features, including sirens, white or red and blue lights, two-way audio for talk-down, and custom messaging. Its analytics can detect loitering, intrusion, and vehicles in prohibited areas, with real-time alerts allowing potential incidents to be addressed early.

SONITROL’s patented audio intrusion sensors inside the building provide 24/7 monitored intrusion detection. When a sensor is triggered, SONITROL operators can listen in to verify activity and dispatch police when required.

Mary can view live footage remotely using the 3xLOGIC mobile app on her phone and access the cameras from a desktop workstation in her office at the building. The SONITROL app, meanwhile, may be used on-site to arm and disarm the alarm system.

“I’ve got the desktop set up in my office at the building, so if we have activities in the gym, we don’t have to go down and see what’s going on. We can just click on the camera and see what’s happening,” explains Mary.

Results Gained

Since installation, Lightkeepers can see what’s going on at the building from anywhere. Mary regularly uses the mobile app to keep an eye on the parking lot, and because the team does not keep regular business hours, board members can check the cameras before heading out to their cars at night.

“We’ve got a lot of women on our board, and we’re over there at all hours. It’s nice for everybody to be able to see what they’re about to walk into before they leave the building,” says Mary.

Late one Sunday night, an intruder forced their way in through the gym door. SONITROL’s monitored intrusion detection picked up the activity, operators called Mary, and police were dispatched. Officers were at the building before Mary, who lives five minutes away, could get there. The intruder fled without taking anything.

In another incident, during unusually low winter temperatures, copper pipes in the building burst. SONITROL’s sensors detected the noise and alerted the team, and Mary checked the lobby camera on the 3xLOGIC mobile app, where she saw water coming out of the room. This meant the team could get someone to the building quickly and limit the damage. No repainting or structural repairs were needed, and no fittings needed to be thrown away.

“Had it not been for the security system, we would not have known about the flooding. I was able to look from my app and see there was water, and we were able to get over there and take care of the problem. It saved us a lot of money in repairs and made a huge difference,” explains Mary.

The cameras, the repaired light, and the extra activity on-site have helped deter nuisance activity in the wider area, so the park behind the building is now somewhere local children can play. Residents across the street have welcomed the cameras, reporting fewer people coming into their yards and a decrease in illegal activity.  

“We were afraid they were going to be so mad at us because there were cameras over here. It was completely the opposite. The neighbors were really happy that they could see the cameras, because it provided safety for their properties. They actually thanked us,” Mary concludes.

Future Plans

Lightkeepers is preparing to partner with the Boys and Girls Club to deliver after-school programs from the building, to bring more young people on-site regularly. The organization is also working with its integrator to assess additional camera coverage and to make full use of the InterACT camera’s siren, talk-down, and custom alarm features to actively deter unwanted activity in the parking lot.