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Westcap tells Barron County supervisors it served 38,000 people, highlighted local housing and weatherization programs
Summary
Westcap Executive Director Peter Kaldi told the Barron County Board on June 17 that the nonprofit’s $30 million annual budget supports housing development, weatherization, food access and transportation programs; he said the agency served about 38,000 people in the last year and described a 50-unit River Falls project that cost about $12 million.
Westcap Executive Director Peter Kaldi told the Barron County Board of Supervisors on June 17 that the community action agency’s work reaches tens of thousands of residents across northwest Wisconsin and that its programs focus on housing, energy, food and workforce supports.
Kaldi said Westcap’s annual budget is “just a hair under $30,000,000,” and that in the most recent year the agency provided assistance to about 38,000 people either directly or through partner programs. He described housing development as a central focus: Westcap has developed about 300 units on its own and another roughly 600 in collaboration with partners, he said, and cited a 50-unit River Falls project that cost about $12,000,000 (about $240,000 per unit) and uses ground-source heat pumps and rooftop solar to cut operating costs.
Kaldi framed Westcap’s mission as “taking action against poverty” and urged supervisors to consult the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) report for local measures of financial hardship. He said the ALICE methodology shows many more households struggling than federal poverty measures indicate and specified that, by the ALICE definition, roughly one-third of Wisconsin households fell below a survival-budget threshold in the most recent state-level report he cited.
On services, Kaldi said Westcap administers a variety of programs: weatherization, emergency and commodity food distribution, senior farmers market vouchers, literacy and skills-development programs, a housing choice voucher (Section 8) program in three counties, and transportation and car-ownership assistance in Barron County. He told the board the agency tracks about 2,443 households receiving some form of direct support in Barron County, translating to roughly 5,000 individuals (figures reported by Kaldi during the presentation).
Supervisors asked about rent ranges and program funding. Kaldi said rents for deeply affordable (30% AMI) units can be around $500 a month, while units for households at 80% of county median income could be roughly $1,100 with utilities included under a single-meter arrangement. He described Westcap’s funding mix as heavily federal (direct grants and funds routed through states), with supplemental state and private grants and donations; he noted the county’s annual $4,000 contribution as a helpful local support line item.
Kaldi also described innovations in projects that reduce long-term operating costs through renewable energy and energy efficiency. He said weatherization is a “win for everybody,” lowering household energy burden and creating local jobs.
The presentation concluded with Kaldi offering copies of Westcap’s annual report to staff and supervisors and inviting county officials to contact the agency for further details or copies of its reports. The board engaged in brief follow-up questions but did not take formal action on the presentation.
