Listen to this article
Grant provides funding for services in Grants Pass and Medford.
Captain Yohani Ortiz has seen some changes in Grants Pass, Oregon, since she and her husband, Captain Taurean Ortiz, arrived just over a year ago to serve the community as Salvation Army Corps Officers (pastors).
“The need is significant,” she said. “We’ve seen a 40 percent increase in requests for assistance, often food, but especially rental assistance. It’s not just being completely unhoused, but it’s experiencing poverty on different levels.”
Looking for a way to create long-term changes in people’s lives, she worked with the nearby Medford Corps to obtain a first-ever AmeriCorps grant for Southern Oregon, aimed at combating homelessness.
Farther north, Portland’s homelessness crisis is well-documented, but Southern Oregon is not immune to homelessness, despite its smaller population—Portland is home to 4.23 million people while Medford—Southern Oregon’s largest city—is home to about 86,000.
According to HUD’s 2024 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, Oregon’s homeless population increased 13.6 percent from 2023–2024, with the biggest spike, at 20 percent, in Oregon’s rural areas, which generally have fewer services to help the unhoused.
The AmeriCorps grant allows The Salvation Army to increase those services. Ortiz, who oversees the program, noted AmeriCorps’ mission aligns with The Salvation Army’s.
“It’s not just talking to people and filling out paperwork, but it’s really preventing people from being on the streets. And it’s bringing food, giving them hope that all is not lost. ”
Captain Yohani Ortiz
“The Salvation Army aims to meet human needs, to serve the community,” she said. “It literally aligns with exactly what AmeriCorps is doing…With AmeriCorps, it’s a community effort, and we’re reaching way more people than we could have on our own.”
After an initial $74,000 planning grant, AmeriCorps provided $269,999 to fund program services from October 2024 through September 2025. The funding allows The Salvation Army to provide service opportunities to 10 AmeriCorps members across four different sites in both Grants Pass and Medford. Service members receive a living allowance and, upon completion of the program, an education grant.
The Salvation Army was able to recruit and select AmeriCorps members best suited for the project. Ortiz said many who came on board—first joining AmeriCorps and then applying for the project—had themselves received help from The Salvation Army and understood community needs.
Now months into the year-long program, The Salvation Army is seeing results in its focus areas: financial assistance, case management/goal planning, volunteer engagement and workforce development.
With an ultimate goal of improving the lives of 1,000 individuals who are unhoused or at risk of becoming unhoused, The Salvation Army placed AmeriCorps members at key spots, including Salvation Army locations in both Grants Pass and Medford, and at Rogue Retreat, an organization providing shelter and transitional housing. Members also work at Rivers Edge Charter School, with both students and parents.
Ortiz said the school location is “extra special.”
“[The members] help with student success overall,” Ortiz said. “Their goal is to tackle homelessness from the students’ perspective, so we break those cycles of poverty in a family, giving the kids the resources they need to hopefully prevent them from falling into a state of homelessness and poverty in the future.”
When the grant cycle ends later this year, Ortiz hopes to renew it, which will mean the members can serve another term. During a meeting with AmeriCorps representatives, she learned funding will be more competitive in the future.
Ortiz said the work the service members are doing is phenomenal.
AmeriCorps Member Jack Bowen, the Wraparound Case Manager at The Salvation Army Medford Corps, has provided wraparound services to 75 clients seeking financial assistance so far, along with following up with The Salvation Army’s Hope House program participants.
“I have worked in social services for many years, and generally we assisted someone and moved on to the next one in line,” he said. “With my wraparound case management position, I have been able to keep in contact with families and continue to offer assistance or a kind word and always a word of prayer.”
Additionally, he helped 100 other individuals who did not qualify for financial assistance through The Salvation Army. In the last four months, he has utilized over $105,000 to prevent client evictions.
Ortiz said it’s a personal mission for each of the service members to give back to their community.
“It’s not just talking to people and filling out paperwork, but it’s really preventing people from being on the streets,” she said. “And it’s bringing food, giving them hope that all is not lost. That’s the biggest impact—at the end of the day, knowing they have an army that can provide them the services they need.”
Member Lauren Hafterson works in the community to strengthen partnerships, create volunteer opportunities, and bring in and retain volunteers. A past recipient of Salvation Army services, she’s passionate about it.
“Giving back to the organization that so selflessly supported me is a privilege,” she said. “I dedicate myself to being a beacon of hope, shining a light for those struggling and building bridges so others may find their way out of darkness. Not only am I giving back and helping others, I am growing myself.”
Do Good:
- You can make an impact for good with whatever time and skills you have. Whatever your interest, there is a you-sized need for goodness in the world. Get the guide on How To Be An Impactful Volunteer and join us in Doing Good today.
Download this page as a PDF
