MINT - bridging the gap for the houseless in Josephine County

10/31/2026

💚 MINT’s Weekly Update

🦃 Thanksgiving Together
❄️ Preparing for Cold Weather
♻️ Blue Bags That Give Back!

This week, we’re looking ahead to a season of gathering, giving, and caring for our neighbors. Here’s what’s happening at MINT—and how you can be part of it! 💚

🦃 A seat at the Thanksgiving table
For the past four years, our community has come together to make Thanksgiving something special. Last year, we served over 200 people—all thanks to the volunteers, home cooks, and generous neighbors who made it possible! The photo below captures a little of that love.

Beyond a delicious meal, it’s a chance to sit together, share stories, and remind one another that we belong to a community that cares.

This year, we’ll gather at MINT’s Navigation Center on Thanksgiving, November 26, at noon. Sign up below to bring a main dish, side, dessert, beverages, or supplies. Food drop-off begins at 11:30 a.m.

Want to lend a hand with setup, serving, or cleanup? Reach out—we’d love to have you join us!

👉 Join the Thanksgiving fun: https://form.jotform.com/263034492418053

❄️ Getting ready for colder days
As colder, wetter weather approaches, we’ve been busy preparing for our inclement weather shelter. A lot of planning and coordination goes into creating a warm, welcoming place for our neighbors to come in from the elements.

There’s plenty happening behind the scenes, and we’ll share more about our plans and ways to help soon. We’re grateful for the community that helps us show up when the weather is at its hardest.

♻️ Small change, meaningful support
Those empty bottles and cans in your garage can give back! We’ll have MINT-labeled BottleDrop Blue Bags available for pickup at our Navigation Center (218 Redwood Hwy, Grants Pass).

Take a bag home, fill it with Oregon redeemable bottles and cans, and return it through BottleDrop’s Blue Bag program. The refunds from your donated containers support MINT’s work!

It’s an easy way for households, workplaces, and groups of friends to pitch in. A few bottles here and a few cans there really do add up. 💚

Whether you bring a favorite family dish, help serve a meal, collect cans, or share this post, you’re part of what makes this work possible. Thank you for continuing to care for our neighbors—and for making room for everyone at the table.

10/23/2026

💚 MINT’s Weekly Update: Sometimes the Smallest Things Make the Biggest Difference! 💚

Another week of meeting people where they are, walking alongside them, and celebrating the victories—both big and small!

📬 You’ve Got Mail!

Did you know that more than 200 individuals use MINT’s P.O. Box as their mailing address?

For many of us, having a mailbox is something we rarely think twice about. But for someone experiencing homelessness, having a safe, reliable place to receive mail can be a critical step toward stability and independence.

Think about all the things that require an address—identification documents, Social Security benefits, healthcare coverage, employment opportunities, housing applications, and important correspondence.

Without a reliable mailing address, navigating these systems becomes even more difficult.

At MINT, we help bridge that gap by providing a place where people can consistently receive their mail.

And check out our mail organization system in the photo (plus MINT’s cat, Meow)! This was hand-built by a wonderful community member who saw a need and stepped up to help us meet it. It’s a beautiful reminder that everyone has something to contribute, and sometimes the simplest acts of kindness create lasting impact.

💚 Recovery Takes a Village

This week, we had the opportunity to connect with two individuals we have been supporting who are currently in inpatient treatment.

Recovery is not an easy road. It takes courage to take those steps, and having people in your corner cheering you on can make all the difference.

Our role doesn’t stop when someone enters treatment. We continue encouraging them, checking in, and reminding them that they have an entire village of people who care about them and are rooting for their success.

These connections are just as meaningful to us as we hope they are to the people we serve. They remind us why we do what we do.

🏡 Finding the Right Place to Call Home

We’ve also been working closely with two individuals who need a higher level of care and support through Medicaid long-term care services.

Navigating this process through Aging and People with Disabilities (APD) can be incredibly complex. Between assessments, eligibility determinations, paperwork, and finding an appropriate placement, it can take months of coordination and advocacy.

But this week, we had something BIG to celebrate! 🎉

One of the individuals we’ve been supporting is moving into an adult foster home tomorrow!

And not just any home—a home that we believe will be a wonderful fit for her unique needs. After months of working through this process, knowing that she now has a safe home with the support and care she needs is something worth celebrating!

For another individual, we successfully completed the first of two appointments needed for APD to assess eligibility for long-term care services. It’s another important step toward opening the door to stable, supportive housing and the care this individual deserves.

These milestones may not always be visible to the outside world, but they represent countless hours of coordination, advocacy, relationship-building, and persistence.

💚 It’s About So Much More Than a Roof Over Someone’s Head.

Sometimes it’s a mailing address.

Sometimes it’s a phone call reminding someone in recovery that they haven’t been forgotten.

Sometimes it’s navigating months of paperwork and appointments to help someone find a home where they can receive the care they need.

And sometimes it’s simply being the person who doesn’t give up when the process gets difficult.

This is what navigation looks like. This is what community looks like. This is MINT.

Thank you to every volunteer, community partner, donor, and supporter who helps make this work possible. We couldn’t do it without you!

10/15/2026

💚 This week at MINT, we’re highlighting the support that continues after someone gets the keys to their home.

We’re currently case managing 21 people we’ve helped move into housing. What that support looks like depends on each person’s needs and where they are in their journey toward wellness and independence.

Sometimes it means helping ensure rent gets paid, getting someone to a doctor’s appointment, grocery shopping, or checking in to make sure things are going okay at home. Some people live beyond bus routes, while others have disabilities that make public transportation difficult. When other transportation resources aren’t available, we help bridge that gap.

Getting housed is a milestone worth celebrating. Having support to stay housed matters just as much. 💚

This week, we also helped one person move into housing and assisted several people with furniture and essential items for their new homes. Whether MINT or another agency helped someone get housed, we’re grateful to help them settle in and make that space feel like home.

And in other news this week…

OHSU Street Medicine nurses returned and were again warmly received. We’re grateful for the care, kindness, and connection they bring to our guests.

We also kicked off our mobile vaccine outreach today at Newman United Methodist Church! Six people received their influenza vaccine, bringing preventive care directly to people who may face barriers to accessing it. 💉

And a special thank-you to Gladiola School for choosing to feed people experiencing homelessness as their project and providing sandwiches this week. We were so honored and touched by their thoughtfulness. Seeing young people care for their neighbors is a beautiful reminder of what community can look like.

Thank you to everyone who helps us show up for our people. Every meal, every ride, and every connection makes a difference. 💚

10/07/2026

🌿 MINT Weekly Update
There were some really meaningful wins this past week, and we wanted to share a few of them with you.
• We were able to say goodbye to two clients who left for inpatient treatment this week. We were grateful to be part of helping them take that next step and look forward to hearing about their progress.
• We also supported two additional clients in completing drug and alcohol assessments and getting on waitlists for inpatient treatment. Taking that first step toward treatment can be a big one, and we are hopeful for what comes next for both of them.
• We also helped another gentleman obtain hearing aids before entering inpatient treatment so he can fully participate in the program and have a stronger foundation for employment when he returns to the community.
• With the support and partnership of other community organizations, three people were successfully housed this week! 🎉 That is a huge win.
• One of our newly housed clients also needed a little help with an important member of the family — and this week, we were able to get their cat spayed/neutered too. 🐾
• Another longtime client, who has faced significant medical challenges, has reached a milestone that may seem small to some but is enormous to those who know his journey. After receiving housing and ongoing support, he is now medically stable enough to ride to his volunteer job. We were able to get him a tricycle so he can safely travel independently. The smile and confidence that came with that new independence were pretty incredible to see.

We are also preparing for flu season and will soon begin our community vaccination campaign, with immunization clinics planned in the coming months. More information on that will be shared soon.

And we are very excited to welcome the OHSU Street Medicine Team to MINT every Wednesday afternoon. They will spend time with our clients, offer foot soaks, wound care, basic support, and most importantly, build relationships and trust. For people who have experienced trauma or difficult interactions with the healthcare system, having a safe and welcoming opportunity to engage with healthcare providers matters. It is also an incredible opportunity for future nurses to learn firsthand from people with lived experience of homelessness — an experience we believe will help shape the kind of healthcare providers they become.

Sometimes progress is treatment. Sometimes it is housing. Sometimes it is hearing aids, a tricycle, a volunteer job, or simply trusting a healthcare provider again.

We are grateful to our staff, volunteers, partners, donors, and community members who help make these moments possible.

One person. One step. One win at a time. 💚

10/01/2026

📣 Three quick MINT updates:

Our Navigation Center, located in front of Bi-Mart, will be closed tomorrow, Friday, October 2, for a staff wellness day.

A huge thank-you to everyone who cooks and serves meals for our guests. Your generosity does more than provide food—sharing a meal builds community, connection, and trust. If you’d like to join the fun, see below to sign up.

Beginning next week, we’ll share weekly MINT updates highlighting client wins, successes, and moments of gratitude.

Happy October! 🍂

This Meal Train is to provide lunch to clients accessing services through MINT's Navigation Center.

09/18/2026

MINT Statement Regarding Parker’s Place

MINT, the Mobile Integrative Navigation Team, has withdrawn from lease negotiations with Elk Island Trading Group, LLC, and will conclude its current arrangement for Parker’s Place Village on October 15, 2026. Parker’s Place Village is a low-barrier transitional housing shelter serving unhoused community members in Grants Pass, Oregon.

This decision follows an extended period of discussion regarding the terms under which MINT would lease the Parker’s Place Village property and manage shelter operations. Despite good-faith efforts, the parties were unable to reach mutually workable terms for both organizations. The property and all shelter operations have been, and will remain, with Elk Island Trading Group, LLC.

MINT recognizes the importance of Parker’s Place Village and the need for safe, compassionate, and practical responses to homelessness in our community. This outcome is not a reflection on the value of the shelter or the people it serves.

MINT will continue to provide inclement weather shelters, as well as navigation services and case management through the MINT Navigation Center and mobile navigation throughout the community. These services will remain available to individuals residing at Parker’s Place Village, as well as others in our community who are without a safe place to stay. In addition, MINT has coordinated and will continue coordinating breakfast Monday through Friday and lunch seven days a week for all 150 Parker’s Place Village residents. MINT remains committed to serving vulnerable residents with dignity, respect, and care. The organization will also continue working, appreciatively, with community partners, public agencies, service providers, and interested stakeholders to support practical solutions for those experiencing homelessness.

This announcement does not change MINT’s mission, its concern for the individuals and families who rely on these services, or its commitment to constructive community dialogue. MINT is grateful to all who continue to support efforts to provide shelter, safety, and connection for unhoused community members.

MINT will also continue exploring opportunities and partnerships that further its mission of providing practical support, shelter, and services to unhoused community members in Grants Pass and throughout Josephine County.

08/12/2026

💚💚💚

Are you looking for community service opportunities? We are still looking for Mobile Shower Trailer volunteers on Fridays from 10 - 3 at the Illinois Valley Family Coalition. 1 or 2 hours shifts available to do check-ins and sanitize the shower stalls. Call or text Laura Mancuso at 971-415-0281. Thank you!

08/04/2026

🌞 Need a place to escape the heat or smoke? We’re here for you. 🌞

With high temperatures and potential smoky conditions expected this week, MINT’s Navigation Center will be open all week to provide a safe, cool place to take a break.

🕘 Open daily starting at 9:00 AM
🕕 We’ll stay open until 6:00 PM as needed to make sure people have access to relief from the heat and smoke.

Everyone is welcome—whether you need a cool place to rest, hydrate, enjoy some air conditioning, or simply get out of the heat for a while.

🐾 Fur babies are welcome too! We know pets need relief from the heat just as much as their people.

Please help us spread the word so anyone who may need a safe place this week knows we’re here.

📍 MINT Navigation Center
218 Redwood Hwy
Grants Pass, OR

Stay safe, stay hydrated, and check on your neighbors. 💙

07/15/2026

To the anonymous “elves” who quietly spread hope outside MINT overnight… thank you. ❤️

This morning our team arrived to find our windows covered with dozens of colorful notes filled with encouragement.

“You are loved.”
“Keep moving forward.”
“You matter.”
“You’re strong and resilient.”
“Peace.”
“You are beautiful just the way you are.”

At first glance, they may look like simple pieces of paper.

But to someone who has lost everything… they can be a reminder that they haven’t lost their worth.

To someone battling addiction… they can be a reason to keep trying.

To someone carrying grief, trauma, or loneliness… they can be the first kind words they’ve heard in a long time.

And for our staff and volunteers—who show up every day because they believe every human life has value—it was exactly the reminder we didn’t know we needed.

Acts of kindness don’t have to be grand to change a day. Sometimes hope arrives quietly, one handwritten message at a time.

So to whoever spent part of your evening cutting, writing, and placing these around our Navigation Center… thank you for choosing kindness. Thank you for reminding our community that compassion still exists. Your thoughtfulness will be seen by hundreds of people over the coming days, and I have no doubt it will brighten more than a few difficult mornings.

You may have remained anonymous, but your kindness will not.

From all of us at MINT—and from every client who pauses to read one of your messages—

Thank you for helping make our little corner of the world feel a little more hopeful today. 💚

06/19/2026

Shoutout to just some of the hardworking ladies of MINT! We love the chance to gather together on Thursdays for outreach to connect with our clients and each other 💚