For the past three years, a downtown Grants Pass nonprofit has offered families something uncommon in Southern Oregon: a specialized sensory environment where children of varying abilities can play, learn and interact without an admission fee.
Now, the future of that community resource is uncertain.
The Sensory Space, located at 580 SW Sixth Street and operated by the nonprofit MEC Disabilities, opened in 2023 as a dedicated environment for children who benefit from sensory-focused activities and accommodations. The facility was created to give families access to equipment and spaces that can be difficult to find in conventional recreational settings.
The Grants Pass location contains seven sensory rooms designed to accommodate different levels of activity and stimulation. Three provide calmer environments, while four offer active or combined sensory experiences. The facility also includes a larger classroom and activity area and has made equipment such as noise-canceling headphones and sensory sacks available to participants.
The program has operated primarily through charitable support and volunteers, allowing families to use the facility without paying admission. That approach has made the Sensory Space accessible regardless of a family’s ability to regularly pay for recreational activities, but it also leaves the program dependent on donations, grants and other outside financial support.
Public financial records for MEC Disabilities illustrate the economics of maintaining that model.
The nonprofit reported approximately $160,788 in revenue during 2024 and $149,167 in expenses, finishing the year with revenue exceeding expenses by about $11,621. In 2025, revenue declined to approximately $115,468 while expenses totaled about $130,344. That left expenses exceeding revenue by approximately $14,876.
The figures represent a revenue decline of approximately 28 percent from one year to the next. Nearly all of MEC Disabilities’ reported 2025 revenue came from contributions, while its principal officers reported receiving no compensation.
Those financial records document a change in the organization’s financial position, but they do not establish the reason for any potential change involving the Grants Pass Sensory Space. MEC Disabilities has not publicly attributed the facility’s uncertain future to its 2025 financial results, and the numbers alone cannot establish such a connection.
The Sensory Space represents only one part of MEC Disabilities’ work. The nonprofit was established to improve access to resources for children and young adults with disabilities and has provided adaptive medical and nonmedical equipment to eligible recipients age 21 and younger.
That assistance has included wheelchairs, adaptive bicycles, walkers, crutches, educational materials, sports equipment and other specialized items. The organization’s work has extended beyond Grants Pass, allowing its broader disability-resource mission to continue independently of activities conducted inside the downtown sensory facility.
The Grants Pass location, however, fills a more specific community role. Rather than functioning as a medical clinic or developmental disability case-management agency, it provides a physical environment where children can participate in sensory activities in a setting developed specifically around different sensory needs.
Other organizations and public agencies continue to provide disability-related assistance throughout Josephine County and Southern Oregon. Community Living Case Management coordinates developmental disability services in the region, while Southern Oregon Education Service District provides early intervention and early childhood special education programs. HASL Center for Independent Living, Partnerships in Community Living, Southern Oregon Aspire and Bridging Communities also provide various services and resources for people with disabilities and their families.
State programs provide another layer of assistance. Oregon’s developmental disability system offers services to eligible children and adults through state and local programs, while the Children’s Extraordinary Needs Program was expanded July 1 to provide qualifying families with additional caregiving support.
Those programs are important components of the regional service network, but they do not necessarily duplicate the experience or function of a free, dedicated children’s sensory facility.
As of August 8, The Sensory Space’s public website continued to display operating information, and MEC Disabilities continued to identify the Grants Pass location as one of its programs. An independently confirmed final closure date has not been publicly established by the organization.
For families who have used the facility since its 2023 opening, the immediate question is therefore not what caused a closure, but what comes next for the Grants Pass location.
MEC Disabilities remains active in its broader mission, while the future of The Sensory Space awaits additional information from the organization. Until that information is released, its financial records provide useful background on the challenges of sustaining a donation-supported program, but not an explanation for what ultimately happens to this distinctive Grants Pass community resource.