MANASSEH HOUSE/OPERATION EMPOWER

MANASSEH HOUSE/OPERATION EMPOWER. Located in 2018 at 2080 Elm St., Manasseh House/Operation Empower according to its website its mission was to house, educate, employ, and offer unique supportive services in a sustainable manner to women of Dubuque and surrounding areas. (1) The organization was founded by Michelle Mihalakis. Manasseh House and Salvia Apartments offered permanent supportive housing with affordable rents, library, fitness room, computer lab, communitu gardens, WI-FI, free laundry, off-street parking and paid utilities. (2)

In 2011 the Dubuque-based supportive project for single women added a program to aid women in rural areas. In such areas, a woman in need could only obtain a night in a hotel--a situation that did not improve her life. Mihalakis began the Manasseh House Rural Homeless Program to assist the growing number of homeless women in rural Iowa. Women with a 75-mile radius could call 563-556-SAFE (7233) for a situational assessment. If they qualified, the woman would be transported to Safe Strides Shelter for Women in Dubuque. The shelter worked to find employment, housing, education and supportive services for single women with no children. Women could remain at the shelter for up to twenty-one days. (3)

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Source:

1. Manasseh House/Operation Empower, Facebook, Online: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Manasseh-HouseOperation-Empower-225890154202846/about/?ref=page_internal

2. Gull, Rachel, "Program Helps Homeless in Rural Areas," Telegraph Herald, August 6, 2011, p. 15