Iowa West Foundation: Belonging in the Bluffs
Interviews with Iowa West Foundation staff and nonprofit partners
Iowa West Foundation: Belonging in the Bluffs
Belonging in the Bluffs - Maren Larsen, MICAH House
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Welcome, Boomer listeners. I'm Peggy Sweet, and this is Belonging in the Bluffs, brought to you by the Iowa West Foundation. I am joined in studio once again today with my good friend Marin. She is the philanthropy director over at the Micah House. Welcome, Marin. How are you? I'm good. Thank you so much for having me. Absolutely. I love when you come and visit me. You've always got such great information. And today, I would like to let everyone know more about the Micah House, kind of how it started, your services, and how long it's been around. And I think you are celebrating a special number this year.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we sure are. So Micah House has been around since 1986. So we're celebrating the Big 4.0 this year, 40 years. But we were started just by a group of local volunteers that saw a need in our community. And we've definitely evolved over the years. But how we stand today, we have a family shelter, a women's shelter, and a child care center.
SPEAKER_00Wow, the big 4-0, that's great. And all of these services have grown over time. Like your childcare is fairly new in the last couple of years, too, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. We opened the child care center in July of 24. Uh so we're celebrating two years there this year, but that's been a great addition to our services. Uh, being able to provide the childcare because, of course, without childcare, how can the parents work? How can they get back on their feet if they don't have that reliable resource for their children? So that's really where we're stepping in. Uh, we knew shelter was a need in our community. So we provide that, of course, but then being able to provide that additional service of childcare to really make sure that those families are able to obtain safe and stable housing, which is the ultimate goal.
SPEAKER_00And childcare is usually a big expense where you're trying to weigh options, especially if you're possibly a single parent. I can't afford to work because my childcare is so expensive.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's that's something we see pretty much every day with a lot of our families. Uh so we really have um a two-layered approach over at our child care center, which I think is something that we're really proud to offer. Uh, we're of course available for the families that are staying at the shelter, but then it's also a community resource as well. So there may be plenty of families in the community that have a job, have housing already, but they don't have that reliable childcare source. And so when they are missing shifts and, you know, their job is in jeopardy, they're able then to enroll at our center and we're able to provide that stability and childcare. And then hopefully they can keep their job, they can keep their housing and not need our shelter services.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. It seems like when one thing gets kind of out of whack, it's just a domino effect, and you're there to help support these families and keep them in their homes and keep them on track. So that's incredible. And what is your location?
SPEAKER_01So we are on the Lakin campus. Um, we are at 14th and J, a really great space to be in. Uh, we have a lot of great community partners there right on campus, and so it's a really great area for us, and we're really proud to be there and share that with so many other wonderful organizations.
SPEAKER_00And if we would like to help volunteer, donate, how do we do that?
SPEAKER_01Themicahouse.org has all information on uh volunteering and donating. Um, of course, we serve over 35,000 meals a year, so that's really one of our largest needs all the time. We always need food donations. Um, so if your business or even just you personally want to host a drive for us, we would be so grateful. But we can always use volunteers as well. We love welcoming local businesses to come in and spend some time with us uh within our programs.
SPEAKER_00Great partners make uh great outcomes here in Council Bluffs. Absolutely. And of course, that is just another reason to live and love Council Bluffs. Marin, I know you have some events coming up throughout the year. I'll have you back real soon. We'll talk about those. I'm looking forward to it. Thanks for having me. Anytime. This has been Belonging in the Bluffs, brought to you by the Iowa West Foundation.