A recovery cafe is a sort of community center for people who have struggled with trauma, substance use, homelessness or mental health challenges. The members-only program includes weekly recovery circles with coffee and snacks, as well as other resources.
Julie Hartford, executive director of Recovery Cafe Grants Pass, said the program is filling a crucial gap in services.
"The community has been really polarized over issues of drugs, addiction, recovery, homelessness, all those things, and it felt hopeless," she said. "It felt like our community didn't have any good resources for people, especially people that could not afford counseling or treatment."
The region has struggled in recent years with a growing homelessness crisis, as well as substance use problems.
Membership is free. To join, members must commit to being sober in the cafe, attending weekly recovery circles and giving back to the cafe or community. The weekly recovery circles will be run by trained peer support specialists.
The cafe is funded by grants and donations and is still searching for a space to rent long-term.
The cafe in Grants Pass will be part of a nationwide network that includes almost 80 cafes across the U.S. and Canada. The cafe's 15 volunteers also received training through the network.
The first recovery cafe was established in Seattle in 2004. According to their 2024 annual report, 98% of members reported that the cafe increased their desire to be in recovery, and 87% of members who struggled with drug use said the cafe helped prevent a relapse.
But Recovery Cafe Grants Pass doesn't have far to look for inspiration.
Recovery Cafe Medford began in 2019 and now has 300 members, up from 45 when it first started.
On one hand, "A lot of people don't want to step into this arena," said Founder and Executive Director Stephanie Mendenhall. "It's pretty messy and political and hard, and people die."
But she said they also get to be part of something remarkable — people changing their lives.
"It's amazing how people just want to be seen and heard and how the recovery cafe model really provides for that," Mendenhall said.
Her advice for Recovery Cafe Grants Pass: "Start small. I think that it takes time in the community to be known and for people to understand that it's way more than a coffee shop."
For now, Hartford plans to start with two recovery circles, but she expects to have 100 members within a year and hopes to expand the program in the future.
"The more recovery circles we can have, the better it will be for our community, and the more people will get into recovery and stay in recovery, which is ultimately our goal," she said. "We're going to add recovery circles as quickly as we can to accommodate the need in Josephine County."
Recovery Cafe Grants Pass is holding its first meeting for new members on Tuesday night.
Members who are interested in joining can find more information on their website or Facebook page.
