Where To Find Food, Housing Help And More In Wisconsin During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Are you in need of food? Do you need someone to pick up groceries? Are you looking for ways to help during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of resources across Wisconsin. If you don’t find what you’re looking for here, you can search for services online at 211 Wisconsin, dial 211 on your phone, or text your ZIP code to 898211.

We’ll keep updating this list as the outbreak continues.

School Districts Providing Meals While Schools Are Closed:

• Ashland
• Bayfield County
• D.C. Everest Area
• Eau Claire Area
• Green Bay Area
• Janesville
• La Crosse
• Lake Mills Area
• Madison Metropolitan
• Milwaukee
• Salem
• Sheboygan Area and other Sheboygan County schools
• Wausau

Services For Senior Citizens, People Living With Disabilities:

BROWN COUNTY:

• Brown County Aging and Disability Resource Center is offering home delivery and some meal pick up options.

DANE COUNTY:

• NewBridge is delivering food and “emergency kits,” which include water, hygiene products, and over-the-counter medication, to older adults in Madison and Monona.
• The Goodman Community Center is calling older adults every day to check in.

EAU CLAIRE COUNTY:

• Eau Claire County Aging and Disability Resource Center is still offering home delivery and some meal pick up options.

LANGLADE, LINCOLN, MARATHON AND WOOD COUNTIES:

• The Aging and Disability Resource Center of Central Wisconsin is offering home delivery and some meal pick up options.

MILWAUKEE COUNTY:

• The Milwaukee County Department on Aging is offering home delivery and some meal pick up options.
• Milwaukee residents older than age 60 who meet certain income requirements can get a free box of healthy food from the Hunger Task Force.

ONEIDA COUNTY

• Aging & Disability Resource Center of Oneida County

SHEBOYGAN COUNTY:

• Fresh Meals on Wheels of Sheboygan County is delivering frozen meals to the elderly.

Other Food Resources:

STATEWIDE:

You may qualify for help through the state FoodShare program.

BROWN COUNTY:

• Paul’s Pantry in Green Bay announced it will remain open during the outbreak.
• Check out New Community Shelter’s Community Meal Program in Green Bay.

CRAWFORD COUNTY:

• Couleecap is expanding food pantry hours in Prairie du Chien.

DANE COUNTY:

• Check out this list of Dane County food resources, or a COVID-19-adapted version here.
• The Goodman Community Center in Madison has a drive-thru food pantry.
• The YMCA of Dane County has seven food sites.
• Other local pantries

EAU CLAIRE COUNTY:

• Feed My People Food Bank is holding pop-up food pantries in Eau Claire.
• Check out Feed My People’s Resource Directory for other pantries.

LA CROSSE COUNTY:

• WAFER Food Pantry will remain open, offering pre-packaged food bundles.
• Other La Crosse County food pantries

MARATHON COUNTY:

• The Neighbors’ Place food pantry in Wausau is allowing people to send someone to collect food in their place if they are worried about visiting the pantry themselves.

MILWAUKEE COUNTY:

• The Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee are providing three meals a day for kids under age 18. Follow the link for a map of participating locations.
• Friedens Community Ministries has several food pantry locations in Milwaukee.
• The Hunger Task Force’s mobile produce market will still be serving seniors in Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha counties.

MONROE COUNTY:

• Couleecap is expanding food pantry hours in Sparta.

NORTHERN WISCONSIN COUNTIES:

• Second Harvest Northern Lakes Food Bank has a map of food pantry locations from Superior to Ironwood.

SHEBOYGAN COUNTY:

• Check out Sheboygan County Food Bank’s map of local food pantries.

WAUKESHA COUNTY:

• The Waukesha Food Pantry is offering pre-packaged food allotments.

Housing:

BROWN COUNTY:

• St. John’s Homeless Shelter in Green Bay has expanded to a second site to handle high demand during the outbreak.
• Find shelter at New Community Shelter in Green Bay.

DANE COUNTY:

• The Tenant Resource Center has updates on which local housing and homelessness programs are suspended due to the outbreak.

EAU CLAIRE COUNTY:

• Check out Feed My People’s Resource Directory.

LA CROSSE COUNTY

• La Crosse County homeless shelters are teaming up to handle the pandemic. A new emergency shelter is opening, and all people seeking shelter will have to go to one central location to get a health screening. Find more information in this press release.

MANITOWOC COUNTY

• Find shelter at the Hope House.
• The Haven is a men’s-only shelter in Manitowoc.

WASHINGTON COUNTY

• Find shelter and homelessness services through Family Promise in West Bend.

Wifi Access:

DANE COUNTY:

• The Mazomanie Free Library is offering 24/7 free wifi.

LA CROSSE COUNTY:

• La Crosse Public Library locations will have free wifi available outside in the evenings, although the libraries are closed.

MARATHON COUNTY:

• The Marathon County Public Library will have free wifi available outside all of its locations, even though the libraries are closed.
• The Boys and Girls Club of the Wausau Area is keeping a free wifi access point open for kids.

Unemployment:

Apply for state unemployment benefits here. The state also has an FAQ about applying for unemployment during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Health Care:

• The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Covering Wisconsin is a free service that can help connect you with health care.

Staying Active:

• The American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation has compiled a list of COVID-19-safe outdoor and indoor activities to stay active, including over 350 virtual workouts, tips for social distancing with kids and online yoga classes.
• Many previously closed Wisconsin state parks are opening again, with restrictions.

Places To Connect:

Many people are using social media to stay connected and offer each other help.

• The Wausau Pilot & Review started the Facebook page Central Wisconsin Coronavirus Updates, where people can ask reporters questions about the virus.
• People living around Chequamegon Bay can share information and supplies with neighbors, as well as volunteer their time for grocery runs and childcare, at the Chequamegon Bay Community Care Facebook page.

Ways You Can Help:

Browse all kinds of COVID-19-related volunteer opportunities here.

• Second Harvest Northern Lakes Food Bank wants young, healthy volunteers to pack boxes of food that will go to northeastern Minnesota, and Douglas, Bayfield, Ashland and Iron counties in Wisconsin.
• Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin also needs volunteers.
• Assisted living facilities in Janesville and Footville are asking people to send in letters and drawings for residents who can’t receive visitors as normal.
• UW Health is looking for paid childcare workers to look after the children of essential health care staff.
• La Crosse homeless shelters are looking for volunteers to assist with in-shelter and remote duties, like cooking off-site.

Want to support local businesses?

• Find Madison-area restaurants to order from at Keep Calm And Carry Out Madison.
• Here’s a list of South Milwaukee businesses looking for support.

Want to donate personal protective equipment (masks, gloves, etc.)?

• The city of Janesville is looking for donations of masks, thermometers and other equipment.
• Madison is looking for people to sew and donate cloth masks for essential city staff. They’re asking people to follow sewing patterns like the CDC’s or UnityPoint Health’s.
• Companies, educational organizations and other organizations with PPE can donate it to the state.
• Wisconsin hospitals and health systems looking for PPE donations include:
  • Children’s Wisconsin
  • Froedert
  • Gundersen Health System
  • Marshfield Clinic Health System
  • SSM Health
  • ThedaCare
  • UW Health

And here are some more places looking for donations.

• Organizations in some counties, like Dane County and Sheboygan County, are raising money for COVID-19 relief funds.
• The Latino Consortium for Action in Dane County has an emergency relief fund for Latinx residents, prioritizing people who are living in the country illegally and small business owners.
• Many food pantries and shelters are looking for donations of cash, food, and sanitation supplies. Follow these links to learn more about what each place needs:
  • St. John’s Homeless Shelter in Green Bay
  • New Day Advocacy Center, a sexual assault and domestic violence shelter in Ashland
  • La Crosse homeless shelters
  • Hebron Housing Services in Waukesha
• Wisconsin hospitals have reported a shortage of blood. You can visit www.versiti.org/wisconsin or www.redcrossblood.org/ to find donation opportunities in your area.
• Tip Madison service workers, even if they can’t be at work, with the Madison Virtual Tip Jar.
• Imagine MKE’s Artist Relief Fund is raising money for Milwaukee County musicians and artists who have lost work due to the outbreak.
• Grad students at UW-Madison can get emergency funds, COVID-19-related or otherwise, from the Teaching Assistants Association (TAA).

Editor’s note: This story will be updated.