An Eau Claire nonprofit that supports survivors of domestic violence is navigating local and state funding shifts in hopes of avoiding a “substantial change in our programming” halfway through next year.
For the area, the Bolton Refuge House is “the sole victim emergency shelter service provider,” Executive Director Pat Stein said recently on WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”
Stein said the 24-hour emergency shelter recently applied for the federal Victims of Crime Act grant, which offers funding to private and public agencies that help victims of violent crimes.
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In the past, Bolton received $250,000 from the grant to fund two and a half full-time positions, Stein said.
For 2025, the organization will receive $90,500, which she said amounts to 37 percent of Bolton’s requested funding. That means Bolton can only keep one of these grant-funded positions, Stein said.
For the 2024-25 award cycle, the state Department of Justice capped Victims of Crime Act funding at $250,000 for individual organizations.
“The need for funding to service victims of crime in Wisconsin far exceeds the resources available through VOCA,” according to a state DOJ statement.
Stein added that Bolton has set its 2025 budget at $1.3 million. But the organization must receive $95,000 in community donations to break even next year.
“If we can’t make up those dollars based on community donations, we could be looking at a substantial change in our programming by June 30 of 2025,” she said.
Eau Claire County reinstates nonprofit funding in 2025 budget
In October, Bolton also faced uncertainty after the Eau Claire County Board released its budget proposal for 2025.
The initial proposal included cutting funds to nine organizations by half, including the Bolton Refuge House. Stein said Bolton typically receives $25,000 through county funds.
“Somebody might say, ‘That’s just a few thousand dollars out of your budget,’” she said. “But for us, it’s critical.”
After the initial budget proposal, Eau Claire County Administrator Kathryn Schauff told “Wisconsin Today” that the board members reinstated funds to local organizations when they approved the county’s $138 million budget.
“The board acknowledges the importance of the partnership that we have with local nonprofits,” Schauff said. “We were able to do that by making some changes with how we fund capital (projects).”
Stein said the Bolton Refuge House is fortunate to have its $25,000 in county funds restored.
She added that when nonprofit organizations such as Bolton lose county aid, additional funding from state or federal grants might go away.
“If we bring in $100,000 from the federal government, they require that we have a $25,000 match,” she said. “Those dollars have always met our match for one of our biggest funding streams.”
When funding is cut, Stein said it shows there’s no longer a community investment in victim services.
“That’s extremely frightening,” she said
Victim assistance program serves Eau Claire community for nearly 50 years
The Bolton Refuge House has served western Wisconsin since the late 1970s. Stein, who started with the organization in 1996, became executive director in 2012.
“Out of all the years I’ve been working with Bolton, we have never faced such a critical conversation to have with the community,” she said of the current budget situation.
She said the Bolton Refuge House operates 365 days a year and provides support to people experiencing dating violence, intimate partner abuse, elder abuse, human trafficking, child abuse and sexual assault.
Last year, 85 people died in Wisconsin because of domestic violence. That is about one death every four days, according to End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin.
If Bolton shuttered its services, she said, “lives would be lost.”
Anyone suffering from domestic violence who is looking for help may call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 or visit End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin’s website for local resources.
