Stepping Stone’s Cairn House, homeless shelter opens in Menomonie

PROTECTED CONTENT

If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.

Username

Password

Login

Lost your password?

Username and Password Help

Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.

Email

Submit

← Back

By Renee Bettendorf

MENOMONIE — An open house was held on November 14 for Cairn House, the new 20 bed homeless shelter owned and operated by Stepping Stones, a non-profit organization located in Menomonie.

Even though Cairn House just opened, it’s already full and has a waiting list, said Brit Blankenheim Stepping Stones Case Manager. Most of the residents at the shelter are from Dunn County with a few from neighboring counties.

“There’s a very large homeless problem in the area,” said Blankenheim.

It takes a large building to address a large problem. Cairn House is a one story, 5,800 square foot structure. The building has two wings separated by a spacious common area. The common area has a dining room, kitchen, laundry room and case managers offices. 

Each room has one twin sized bed and a bathroom with a shower. The floors are concrete and the walls are painted in cheerful colors. Many of the furnishings, linens, rugs and decor were donated by local organizations, businesses and individuals. 

“It was built by the community,” said Dana Neil Stepping Stones Assistant Director. 

Stepping Stones has a history of building community. The organization started in 1986 and was originally known as the Interfaith Volunteers of Dunn County. At that time the goal was helping elderly and disabled people in the community to live independently.  

In 1994 the organization opened its first homeless shelter which is a house on Broadway Street. The house has three apartments and is still used as a shelter. Two years later Stepping Stones started a food pantry. The pantry currently keeps hours five days a week. 

In 2014 Stepping Stones opened a second shelter called Winter Haven. This shelter was for people who needed a place to stay on winter nights. When the pandemic started they had to close Winter Haven.

At that point Stepping Stones got Covid funding for a hotel voucher program. They were renting six to 10 hotel rooms every night for local homeless people. Building a large shelter to house homeless individuals had been a goal for quite some time. And when funding for the hotel voucher program ended, Stepping Stones stepped up.

“There was a bigger push to get this going,” said Neil.

Funded entirely by $1.5 million in grant and donation money, Cairn House is up and running. It was not designed to house families since most homeless people in Dunn County are single. 

According to Blankenheim, there are three main types of local homelessness. There are people who are living outside on the street and may be using a tent or non-operational car for shelter. This is the group that Stepping Stones tries to help first.  

“These are the most vulnerable,” she said, of this group.

There are also individuals who are living out of their vehicles, storage units or other non-house structures. The third group of homeless people are couch surfers, staying with friends or relatives on a short term basis.  

Blankenheim pointed out that being homeless is stressful. If a person is constantly worrying over where they will sleep, job seeking or keeping up with a job can become difficult. Providing the stability of shelter can give homeless people time to set and meet goals to get them back on track.

Padraig Gallagher, Stepping Stones Executive Director described Cairn House as “a foundation to stabilize”. 

Once people move into Cairn House, they can stay there for four to eight weeks. In addition to stable housing, residents can count on meals, laundry facilities and other support while they are at Cairn House.

During their stay, residents work with staff to become more self-sufficient, said Gallagher. Stepping Stones staff assist residents with education goals and access to services. They also provide help with finding or maintaining employment.

“People are surprised to learn that many homeless are working,” said Gallagher. 

For the working homeless, staying in a shelter may conflict with their work schedule. An advantage of staying at Cairn House is that it’s staffed 24/7 so things like mealtimes can be more flexible, said Gallagher. 

The shelter is staffed with a combination of volunteer and paid positions. If you are interested in volunteer opportunities, you can apply on their website at www.steppingstonesdc.org