Home for Good, a local nonprofit working to end homelessness in the Eau Claire area, will be hosting Eau Claire’s inaugural Coldest Night of the Year fundraising walk. This international event meant to raise awareness for homelessness, hunger and hardship, takes place worldwide on Feb. 28. 

Astri Graceheart, Executive Director of Home for Good, emphasized the importance of the entire community showing up for this event at the end of the month.

“Folks who are experiencing homelessness can participate, folks who are community members, business owners, service providers, anybody, totally open to anyone,” Graceheart said. “So, it’s really meant to bring everybody together. We’re walking together in solidarity.”

According to the Home for Good website, their goal is to offer affordable and permanent housing to individuals and families in need. One way they help participants accomplish that goal is through their peer mentors. These mentors help with personalized plans to help individuals and families reach their goals and eventually no longer rely on the support provided to them. 

Graceheart said Home for Good provided permanent housing and support to 25 households in 2025, aiding upwards of 75 children. Graceheart said she is proud of these numbers, but the organization is still looking toward the future.

“In 2026, our goal is to grow that aggressively to 60 households and 150 kids, so we’re doubling it,” Graceheart said. “We have the funding that we need already. We’ve acquired it and gotten in place to scale our staffing and to scale our housing for that kind of growth.”

Home for Good also has many local partners to help them reach their goals, including Family Promise of the Chippewa Valley, C.C. We Adapt, Eau Claire Sober Living and Sleep in Heavenly Peace, according to their website. 

On top of these partners, Graceheart also said that Marine Credit Union in Eau Claire is helping tremendously with Home for Good’s mission, including providing funding for a Home for Good program called Bridge, as well as being the main sponsor for Eau Claire’s Coldest Night of the Year walk. 

“It’s kind of funny because the bridge, as a name for the program, just sort of emerged naturally,” Graceheart said.  “We were like, oh, there’s this gap. How do we bridge the gap?”

The gap alluded to above is a trend that she noticed while working for Home for Good. Many families needed very little assistance to live in a comfortable dwelling — sometimes just $100-$300. Bridge helps them “bridge” that gap and provides ongoing mentorship so one day they no longer require the extra funding. 

The Eau Claire Coldest Night of the Year walk is completely free for participants. Interested community members can register in-person before the event or online. 

Participants can choose either the two-kilometer route or the five-kilometer route, but this event is walking only — it is not a race or for running. After the walks, participants are welcome to enjoy a free meal at The Lismore. 

Fundraising is available at this event, mostly from team donations. If someone is interested in raising money through friends or family, they can register as a team and collect donations to fundraise for the event. 

For teams that raise at least $150, the team leader will receive a free Coldest Night of the Year beanie. A youth participant only needs to raise $75 in order to receive the beanie.  

Student groups are also strongly encouraged to attend, both as participants and fundraisers, according to Graceheart. 

“I would love to have student groups participate and have their own team and bring their team members,” Graceheart said. “Our priority for this first year is just to get people out there. We don’t have any super ambitious fundraising goals. Anything we fundraise is going to help these families.”

In addition to participating, interested people can volunteer to assist at this event. These roles include a check-in team, send-off team and rest stop helpers, according to Graceheart. 

“Again, if there’s a student org that says, ‘hey, we want to do a rest stop,’ they could have a table,” Graceheart said. 

Coldest Night of the Year will take place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 28. The walk will start and end at The Lismore. Check-in begins at 4 p.m., and walking starts at 5 p.m. All walkers must check in on arrival. Registration and donation links are here, and the volunteer link is here. 

DeGear can be reached at [email protected].