Westcap outlines services to Barron County: energy assistance, housing, food access and weatherization

Tim Mather, executive director of Westcap (West Central Wisconsin Community Action Agency), told the Barron County Board that Westcap serves seven counties including Barron and that the county adopted Westcap as its community action agency in 1968.

Mather said Westcap is a Community Services Block Grant (CSBG)–funded organization that receives about $400,000 in CSBG funds annually to support administration and leverage other grants; in total Westcap channels multiple federal, state and private funding sources and administers roughly $27,000,000 across its service area in a recent year. In 2024, Westcap reported serving 2,845 households in Barron County and providing roughly $3.25 million in support for county residents.

Mather described Westcap’s largest programs in Barron County as food access (more than 2,000 individuals served; roughly $251,000 in food and staff value), housing services (153 households assisted in 2024; about $773,000 in value; Westcap owns and operates affordable units in Barron and Rice Lake), energy assistance (about 1,600 households served in Barron County with average payments around $550, totaling roughly $1,000,000 paid to utilities) and weatherization (102 homes audited or weatherized in 2024; 54 emergency “no heat” first responses; average energy savings estimated at about $500 per home per year).

Mather said Westcap employs about 85 people and that the agency’s work is prescribed and audited through federal and state rules. He described partnerships with county ADRCs and local contractors who perform weatherization and repair work. Mather also described risks from sudden federal funding interruptions — citing an instance where HUD funding was temporarily shut off overnight — and said that experience has made the agency more risk-averse and careful about cash flow exposure.

Board members asked about program overlap with ADRC nutrition programs, funding sources beyond CSBG, contractor selection and the agency’s development of affordable housing using Low Income Housing Tax Credits. Mather said programs are coordinated with ADRCs, CSBG funds are primarily catalytic rather than comprehensive, and Westcap supplements CSBG with federal, state and private funding and contracts with private developers to build affordable units.

Supervisors thanked Mather for the presentation and requested informational materials for distribution to residents.