Eau Claire City Council Approves Help for Downtown Shelter

The Eau Claire City Council voted to approve assistance for the Sojourner House after funding issues threatened to reduce summer services.

In March, the Diocese of La Crosse announced that declining funding and a shortage of volunteers could force the reduction of operations from year-round to six months. The change would have allowed the critical shelter to remain open during the cold winter months, but would have left the unhoused population with nowhere to go during the summer months.

Last week, the Eau Claire City Council voted to approve a one-time $40,000 contribution to the shelter. The funding will ensure it remains open throughout the summer this year while the organization pursues more permanent solutions.

Addressing the needs of the unhoused population in Eau Claire and the Chippewa Valley as a whole has become a difficult task. The region has seen a dramatic increase in the number of identified unhoused individuals over the last few years. The City also has a low vacancy rate compared to other areas of the state, meaning more permanent solutions to affordable housing issues will require significant time and funding.

In the interim, the City launched a new task force and a street ambassador program to connect unhoused individuals with available resources. The City Council also passed an advisory resolution in December calling for more state and federal aid to address the issues.

Justifying the approval of the payment, some City Council members estimated that the cost of solving issues without the shelter would exceed that $40,000 mark. The shelter must remain open through the end of the year to fulfill the contractual terms of the payment.