EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) – Taylen Lundequam is a sociology major at UW-Eau Claire and has taken up photography for the past seven years.

He has also worked with Western Dairyland, which game him a better picture of the homeless in the Chippewa Valley.

“Their stories, the stuff that they go through, is ridiculous in my opinion,” said Lundequam.

With his camera, and a friend to keep him company, he is off to look high and low for any stories the homeless are willing to share.

“I’ve definitely gotten quite a few no’s. But I’ve definitely gotten quite a few yes’s,” said Lundequam.

Photographs shown on his Facebook page under the name of “Unhoused of The Chippewa Valley” show those stories.

It is still new, Lundequam has been doing it for a couple of weeks.

“I’m hoping for more traffic. I have a lot already, which is amazing. And, I’ve had people reach out with resources. And, some people offering to pay for food,” said Lundequam.

“There’s a bad stigma about who we are,” said Bruce Caver.

He has been in Eau Claire for two years and is homeless himself.

Lundequam has actually helped him out with finding resources.

Caver’s story will soon be featured on the projects, and he wants people to know he has a job but it was not enough to pull him out of homelessness.

“Be open to say, maybe this person did change their life and I want to help them along their path,” said Caver.

He hopes for empathy.

“People are accepting homelessness. I don’t think it’s something you should accept. It’s human life. How much is it really worth?” said Caver.

Lundequam hopes for him and other homeless people get that empathy too, one snap shot at a time.

“I just want people to be more empathetic. And, for people to open their hearts. Because, there isn’t a lot of that around here, or in the world,” said Lundequam.

He wants to continue the project into the winter months later in the year.

He hopes to highlight the dangers of being homeless in a Wisconsin winter.

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