Parker’s Place Village is turning to The Do Good Foundation to help keep its 150 shelter beds available and assemble a network of resident services as the Grants Pass shelter confronts an operating funding shortage, city grant concerns and the end of its original agreement with Mobile Integrative Navigation Team.
The foundation will work with Elk Island Trading Group, the village’s owner and operator, to arrange services through community providers, identify funding and advise on shelter operations. Its involvement comes as MINT’s existing arrangement reaches its October 15 endpoint, following weeks of uncertainty over how the village would finance operations and maintain support for residents.
Keeping the shelter open is the immediate priority, said Dr. Sierra Dawn Warren, the foundation’s clinical director. Alongside that effort, the organizations are working to coordinate care through City-approved service agreements and bring operations into alignment with low-barrier shelter standards and the existing grant agreement.
“None of this is easy, especially for a shelter that has no dedicated or existing operating budget,” Warren said.
The Do Good Foundation will not take over the village, replace MINT as its contracted service provider or assume MINT’s former agreement. Elk Island will retain ownership and operational responsibility, while the foundation concentrates on connecting providers, developing resources and strengthening the organization’s ability to sustain the shelter.
The partnership follows difficulties the Grants Pass Tribune has reported in recent weeks involving MINT’s departure from lease negotiations, questions about services and grant compliance, and unfinished construction work. MINT withdrew from negotiations with Elk Island on September 18, with its existing Parker’s Place arrangement scheduled to end October 15.
The city separately raised concerns in a September 11 notice about compliance with the village’s grant obligations, including access to services, resident and intake documentation, service agreements and expenditure records. Those concerns preceded the foundation’s involvement. The city also extended the project’s construction completion deadline from June 1 to November 13, with stormwater work among the remaining requirements.
The new collaboration includes examining operational and grant compliance concerns, establishing service agreements and developing a financially sustainable approach to resident support. Existing contractual and financial obligations remain with the parties responsible for them; the foundation is not taking responsibility for earlier activities or agreements.
Parker’s Place opened June 22 to provide a more stable alternative for people living without shelter in Grants Pass. Elk Island now describes the village as a 150-bed transitional shelter, where residents can obtain a place to sleep while pursuing health care, employment, recovery and permanent housing.
Bernard J. Woodard, Elk Island’s operations manager, said the next stage requires more individual attention to the circumstances that brought residents to the village and the assistance they need to leave homelessness.
“Our original goal at Elk Island Trading Group was simple: Safe Beds First,” Woodard said. “Get people out of unsafe, unsheltered environments, provide them with a safe place to sleep, establish some stability in their lives, and then begin working on what comes next.”
Woodard said his first meeting with Warren at Parker’s Place helped persuade him that the foundation could contribute to that work. He described watching her sit with residents, listen to their experiences and begin learning about their individual circumstances.
“It reinforced something I have believed for a long time: you cannot help people move forward until you understand where they are, what brought them there, and what they personally need to succeed,” he said.
The organizations intend to build connections with behavioral and mental health services, housing navigation, employment opportunities and other community resources. The foundation will help Elk Island pursue agreements with existing providers and identify additional partnerships to support continuity of care during the transition.
Warren said the needs of residents often extend across several areas of their lives, including economic insecurity, psychological distress, trauma, disrupted relationships and limited access to essential resources. Those circumstances, she said, are reflected in the experiences of people staying at Parker’s Place.
“Creating pathways out of homelessness requires more than temporary shelter,” Warren said. “It takes coordinated systems of care and support across the whole community, systems that recognize the humanity, dignity and potential of every person.”
Her work with Elk Island will include consultation on organizational structure and shelter practices, guided by standards for low-barrier shelters. The partnership also calls for program development that accounts for residents’ psychological needs and experiences, together with clearer responsibilities among the organizations providing assistance.
Reliable operating revenue remains a central task. The foundation will help identify sustainable funding resources while the partners work to make resident services accessible through a network of qualified providers. The collaboration establishes a framework for that work; it does not transfer the shelter’s operating costs or earlier financial obligations to the nonprofit.
Woodard said creating the shelter beds fulfilled the project’s first major objective. He described the next phase as helping residents move toward healthier and more independent lives through individual support and community participation.
“I believe Dr. Warren and The Do Good Foundation will help us accomplish that next step, and I am extremely pleased to welcome them as our partners,” he said.
Both organizations will maintain their independent governance. The foundation’s responsibilities will center on community partnerships, resource coordination, strategic development and opportunities to improve supportive services, while Elk Island continues operating Parker’s Place.
Founded in 2019, The Do Good Foundation is an Oregon 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose work includes education, collaborative initiatives and community programs focused on individual and community well-being. The foundation and Parker’s Place are seeking conversations with local businesses, service providers, philanthropic organizations, residents and public agencies interested in supporting the shelter and its services. Information about the foundation is available at www.dogoodoregon.org.