The population the MINT program serves is primarily unhoused individuals (living outside, sleeping in a car or shelter/transitional setting, perhaps couch surfing). According to the 2022 Point in Time Count (the official annual count of unhoused individuals) conducted by our Community Action Agency 'UCAN', Josephine County had more than 350 individuals indicating they were residing in a shelter (22), transitional housing (67), or completely unsheltered (266).

Over the summer months of 2023, MINT served approximately 80-100 people each Thursday in Grant Pass, and over 100 people each week in Cave Junction on Wednesdays. These counts are individuals who received groceries from us, which is our most popular service offered. Acknowledging the inherent difficulties of counting unhoused populations, MINT feels confident that we are interacting with upwards of half (50%) of our county’s unhoused population on a great week.

Understanding the root causes of houselessness in Josephine County would require a far bigger dialogue box than this! (1) MINT places housing front and center in the discussion on reasons for houselessness. Unfortunately, housing is very limited in Josephine County and very expensive, contributing to our more severe housing crisis compared to other areas. This is directly causing increased rates of houselessness in our county. (2) Poor health can often be a major contributor to becoming unhoused (inability to work), and intensify the challenge of acquiring housing once it’s been lost. (3) Some unhoused individuals are escaping violence. (4) Overarching systemic issues, like racial disparities, contribute to an individual's housing status as well.

JCPH is located in Oregon, a state that recently declared a state emergency for Homelessness, so our state is being infused with funding to help. Unfortunately, it was decided that Josephine County would not partake in this financial opportunity. The state and nation are working on solutions, but many of those are going to be some time before the effects will be felt. In the meantime, there is much suffering to tend, and MINT slides right into this groove.

MINT partners with several CBOs doing amazing boots on the ground outreach for unhoused people. Park outreach performed before MINT was fractured, including no coordinated nor consistent outreach. We are unaware of another public health program that offers all the services MINT coordinates in the location where unhoused people actually reside, especially the medical component (‘street medicine’). The care coordination accomplished because of MINT is innovative to unhoused services to our knowledge.

Like a Navigation Center, MINT provides a multitude of services in one convenient place. But unlike traditional ‘brick and mortar’ Navigation Centers, we provide mobile services, allowing for vital services in Grants Pass in 3 different parks on one Thursday morning and the next afternoon popping up at two different locations in the more rural Cave Junction. In addition, this brings services to individuals who might not otherwise seek them in a formal way. Receiving services one-on-one in the park where an unhoused person is comfortable is a very different experience than walking into a building, especially for individuals who have been disenfranchised by society and formal services in the past (many unhoused people).

Caring for unhoused individuals in this way creates a bridge across a major health equity gap. First, people of color experience higher rates of houselessness than their white peers due to a long history of racism in our society. For example, African Americans account for approximately 13% of the general American population, but account for 37% of our country's unhoused community (https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/what-causes-homelessness/inequality/). Aside from BIPOC equity, simply being an unhoused person also increases your likelihood of health complications and premature death. Being unhoused limits a person's access to healthcare and basic human and social rights. Individuals living in poverty, like unhoused people, face a heavier burden regarding healthcare costs and coverage. Competing priorities, like food or shelter, are often more urgent than basic health recommendations (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9282039/). Unhoused people can experience discrimination among healthcare workers who misunderstand the sheltering issue, blaming the patient for their inability to manifest a solution to their situation. One additional way MINT addressed health equity was extending program outreach to rural Cave Junction. We acknowledged that the health needs of rural communities are just as important and different than what is occurring in the city, and we’ve invested in our presence in rural areas.

In summary, providing medical care and social services to unhoused individuals in the places they are already inhabiting addresses a major health inequity in our jurisdiction. Circumstances causing an individual to become unhoused are complex, and often revolve around housing shortages, poor health, equity, and violence. MINT reaches upwards of half the unhoused population in our county each week, bridging a chasm in an unhoused person’s reality and the services that can assist them.

Unhoused Outreach - Mobile Integrative Navigation Team

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