Eau Claire

Eau Claire is a mid-sized college and river town in west-central Wisconsin, home to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a downtown that mixes music venues, breweries, and old mill buildings along the Chippewa and Eau Claire rivers. It has a reputation as a friendly, artsy place, but like a lot of Wisconsin cities it's dealing with rising rents even as the average household income sits around $65,000 a year. Eau Claire County's point-in-time count identified 97 people experiencing homelessness in January 2023, a number that undercounts those staying in cars, campsites, or doubled up with others. The Community Table offers free meals and a welcoming place to sit down without judgment. Beacon House and the Sojourner House, run through local partnerships, provide shelter and case management for individuals and families trying to get back on stable ground. The Salvation Army of Eau Claire also runs programs for food, clothing, and emergency assistance for people who need help right now, not just eventually. Whatever brought you here, you deserve rest, a hot meal, and people who treat you like you matter — because you do.