Chippewa County is a great place to live, raise a family, and work. However, statistics show there are real threats to the County’s overall health and wellness. Citizens on government assistance have increased more than three times since 2000 and there are over 6,600 Chippewa County residents living under the poverty level. 1,920 of those residents are children. Non-profits and faith-based communities have experienced similar increases and are in a survival mode.

Citizens are seeking assistance for services at alarming rates in the areas of shelter, food, mental health, substance abuse, and parenting. Sometimes accessing these services are necessary as a result of becoming unemployed, underemployed, an inability to make a living wage, other life circumstances outside of an individual’s control, or the result of physical, developmental, or mental health disabilities. However, services made available to meet basic needs are not intended to be a way of life for able-bodied individuals or families.

The Center’s specific purpose will be to offer the opportunity for services to become co-located to meet the needs of guests.  This is essential for two reasons.  First, there has been a reduction in federal, state and local governmental funding.  Second, it is a call for partnering organizations to come together to find efficiencies, assess residents’ needs more hollistically and increase efforts to integrate health and human services.  Another goal is for the organizations housed, or providing services, within the center to agree to share administrative costs and partner as a team to meet the needs of guests.