ABOUT IVFC
A Pillar of Support in the Illinois Valley
The Illinois Valley Family Coalition helps neighbors meet basic needs and access essential services by bringing resources, assistance, and community partners closer to home.
WHY WE’RE HERE
Our Mission
The Illinois Valley Family Coalition helps neighbors meet basic needs and access essential services by bringing resources, assistance, and community partners closer to home.
Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors and staff are a diverse group of community members with a strong desire to make a meaningful impact in our community.
Select any name to read a short bio.
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Laura Mancuso
President & Secretary
Laura is the Executive Director of IV Living Solutions and has a long history working in public health in the Illinois Valley. She’s a local champion of community initiatives, including the IV Hope Village transitional housing program. She has served on IVFC’s board since 2018.
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Della Meengs
Vice President
A retired teacher and speech pathologist, Della brings decades of experience working with local families and students. She has served on IVFC’s board since 2017.
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Gena Grizzard
Board Member
Gena is the Self Sufficiency Program Manager for Oregon DHS, District 8, covering Jackson and Josephine Counties. She previously worked as a Project Manager with Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation Community & Family Services. She has served on IVFC’s board since 2015.
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Patti Culver
Board Member
Patti coordinates the Learning Through Art Program through the Illinois River Valley Arts Council and supports storytime and computer lab programs at Evergreen Elementary and the Josephine County Library. She’s also the owner and CFO of Design Factotum Inc. She joined IVFC’s board in January 2025.
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Sara Kinstler
Treasurer
Sara is a teacher leader at Kalmiopsis Community Arts High School and previously taught English at Illinois Valley High School. She brings a background in family services and bilingual (Spanish/English) communication to the board. She joined in May 2025.
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”— Mahatma Gandhi
IVFC Staff
Select any name to read a short bio.
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Aaron Howard
Executive Director
Aaron brings a strong background in organizational development, with an eye for both the big picture and the practical steps needed to turn ideas into reality. Through his experience building a growing business and volunteering in the community, he developed a strong interest in helping people and organizations grow and realize their potential. That interest now shapes much of his work at IVFC, from developing a strong and effective team to building programs and partnerships that strengthen the broader community.
Outside of work, Aaron is an avid gardener and enjoys cooking, spending time outdoors with his family, and tending to the forest on his family’s property in the Illinois Valley.
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Shelby Kamman
Program Director
Shelby serves as IVFC’s Program Director, helping lead the organization’s programs, creating and maintaining partnerships, and connecting local residents with the resources they need. She loves connecting people with resources, bringing organizations together, and finding creative ways to help Illinois Valley individuals and families meet their basic needs and build greater stability.
When she’s not at IVFC, Shelby enjoys photography, water polo, scuba diving, and pretty much anything that gets her outside. She spends much of her free time exploring the outdoors with her partner and dogs and enjoying everything the beautiful Illinois Valley has to offer.
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Devin Smith
Housing & Program Coordinator
Devin supports IVFC’s housing and community assistance programs, helping people navigate resources and overcome barriers to stability. Her work includes connecting community members with housing-related supports and assisting with IVFC’s broader programs and services, with a focus on making complicated systems easier for people to navigate.
Outside of work, Devin enjoys caring for her ever-growing collection of indoor plants and exploring the Illinois Valley in search of interesting rocks and unique finds. She has a particular appreciation for the Valley’s diverse geology and all there is to discover here.
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Christina Rouse
Front Desk & Resource Navigator
Christina is often one of the first people community members meet when they come to IVFC. As Front Desk & Resource Navigator, she helps welcome visitors, understand what they need, and connect them with IVFC programs and other community resources. She helps make the Resource Center approachable, organized, and easy to navigate. She is grateful for the opportunity to be a helping hand and a friendly face for people in her community, especially during times when finding the right resources can feel overwhelming.
Outside of work, Christina loves spending time with her family, enjoys the outdoors, and getting lost in a good book.
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Karen Hertler
Program Assistant
Karen serves as a Program Assistant at IVFC, supporting the day-to-day work of our programs and helping community members access services and resources. She assists staff across a variety of projects and helps keep IVFC’s growing programs organized, responsive, and welcoming to the people we serve.
In her free time, Karen enjoys taking walks, spending time with her pets, and tending to her garden at home.
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Jenny Wagstaff
Office Administrator
Jenny helps keep IVFC’s day-to-day operations running smoothly as Office Administrator. She supports staff, volunteers, administrative systems, and the many moving pieces behind IVFC’s programs. Jenny brings organization, flexibility, and a commitment to creating a welcoming and supportive environment for everyone who comes through IVFC’s doors.
In her free time, she enjoys meditation, yoga, and sound healing, along with spending time with her pets, crafting, and gardening.
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John Sykowski
Maintenance & Cleaning
John helps care for IVFC’s Resource Center and keeps the building safe, clean, and welcoming for the many community members, staff, volunteers, and partner organizations who use it each week. His behind-the-scenes work is an important part of keeping IVFC’s busy community space functioning well.
Outside of work, John is a lifelong learner who loves working with his hands and understanding how things work, always looking for new skills and knowledge to pick up.
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Edgar Morton
Maintenance & Cleaning
Edgar helps maintain and care for IVFC’s Resource Center, supporting the day-to-day work needed to keep the building clean, functional, and welcoming. His work helps ensure that IVFC and the organizations sharing the Resource Center have a space where they can reliably serve the community.
When he’s not working, Edgar enjoys being outdoors, riding bikes and motorcycles, and trying specialty foods.
OUR HISTORY
More than three decades of showing up
For more than thirty years, the answer to "where do I go?" in the Illinois Valley has been the same place.
IVFC began in 1992 with a group of neighbors who were tired of watching local families get sent over the hill to Grants Pass for help they should have been able to find at home. There was no building, no staff, and no budget. There was just a clear sense that a place this far from everything needed somewhere of its own to turn.
What those volunteers built, one grant at a time, is the Illinois Valley Resource Center: roughly 11,000 square feet on River Street that IVFC owns and maintains. Our own programs run here alongside the state, county, and nonprofit partners our neighbors depend on. Lease revenue from those partners helps pay for the services we provide, and community groups running programs open to the public use our meeting rooms free of charge.
The question that started this work has not changed much. It has just gotten more specific. How do we bring more services home to the Illinois Valley, remove the barriers that keep people from getting help, and make sure everyone who walks through our doors is treated with dignity?
Three Decades in the Illinois Valley
- 1992
Founded by neighbors
A group of Illinois Valley volunteers founded the Illinois Valley Family Coalition and adopted its mission: prevention, education, advocacy, and referral services for local families.
- 1995
First paid coordinator
IVFC hired its first paid coordinator, funded by an $18,000 grant from The Carpenter Foundation and the Oregon Community Foundation. Until then, the entire organization ran on volunteer effort.
- 1996–97
Land, and the first tenants
IVFC secured a Community Development Block Grant through the City of Cave Junction and a U.S. Forest Service grant that covered architectural design. The River Street property was acquired that October, and construction began soon after. Boys & Girls Club, Children and Families Services, and Family Friends signed on as the first tenants.
- 1999–00
Breaking ground on the addition
IVFC took on a $450,100 construction loan, signed by its board president and treasurer, and broke ground on a major addition built to bring state family services into the valley. The agency that moved in is known today as Oregon DHS Self-Sufficiency, and it still operates from that space. The building reached roughly 11,000 square feet, and IVFC has owned and maintained it ever since.
- 2000s
One address, many kinds of help
With the building complete, IVFC became what it had set out to be — one address where families could reach public benefits, early childhood programs, health services, and emergency help without leaving the valley.
Alongside those partner services, IVFC continued the everyday work that has defined the organization for years: food assistance, help obtaining IDs and birth certificates, showers and laundry, clothing vouchers, bus tokens, and access to computers for job applications and benefits paperwork.
- 2014
The loan, paid off
Fifteen years after breaking ground, the lien from the construction loan was released.
- 2015
Going digital
IVFC modernized, launching its first website and social media presence and renovating the lobby to make the building easier to walk into.
- 2018
Public health comes to the valley
Josephine County Public Health opened two offices at the Resource Center, bringing women’s health services and an immunization clinic into the valley, and WIC began operating here twice a month. Again with support from The Carpenter Foundation, IVFC added full-time administrative staffing and joined a range of local collaboratives spanning schools, public safety, food, and senior services, including the first Illinois Valley Senior Expo.
- 2019
Play group takes root
IVFC became an affiliate of Kaleidoscope Play & Learn, an evidence-based early childhood program that brings young children together with the parents, relatives, friends, and neighbors who care for them. The program later continued as Read Play Talk in partnership with Southern Oregon ESD and is run today by Art & Science Kids.
- 2021–22
Reinvesting in the Resource Center
IVFC reinvested in the building, repaving the parking lot and replacing the entire roof with thirty-year material — the kind of long-term maintenance that keeps a community resource serving families for decades.
- 2024
Building the foundation
New leadership, a new strategic plan, and a strengthening of IVFC’s governance, financial systems, and daily operations. Less visible than a new program, and the foundation for much of what followed.
- 2025
New partnerships, growing need
IVFC became an approved Health-Related Social Needs provider through AllCare Health, creating a new way to connect Oregon Health Plan members with housing and utility assistance. IVFC was also selected for Oregon’s Resilience Hubs and Networks program, beginning work toward a more resilient Resource Center.
That same year, the valley’s largest food pantry closed. IVFC and the remaining local pantries worked together to take on the growing need and keep food available across the valley.
- 2026
Growing to meet the need
IVFC and Illinois Valley Living Solutions launched a six-stall mobile shower and laundry trailer, while the food pantry grew to serve 600 to 700 households a month — roughly twenty times its volume two years earlier. IVFC also expanded its work connecting Oregon Health Plan members with housing and utility supports through AllCare and began developing major resilience upgrades for the Resource Center.
Three decades on, IVFC is still doing what it was built to do: bringing services closer to home and making it easier for Illinois Valley neighbors to find help when they need it.
WE LIVE HERE
Our Valley
The Illinois Valley sits in southwestern Josephine County, Oregon, along the Illinois River and surrounded by the Siskiyou Mountains. Communities across the valley include Cave Junction, Kerby, Selma, O'Brien, Takilma, Holland, and the rural areas around them. Cave Junction is the valley's incorporated city, named for the junction of the Redwood Highway and Caves Highway, which leads to Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve.
This is an exceptionally biodiverse corner of the Klamath-Siskiyou region, shaped by unusual geology and serpentine soils that support rare plants found in few other places. Takelma people lived in the Illinois and Rogue River valleys for thousands of years before the arrival of miners and settlers. Gold brought rapid change beginning in the 1850s, Kerby served for a time as the Josephine County seat, and timber later became a major part of the valley's economy.
Today, distance still shapes life here. Many services available in Grants Pass are difficult to reach for someone without a reliable vehicle, enough money for gas, or dependable phone and internet access. Household incomes remain well below statewide levels, making those distances matter even more. Bringing services closer to home and helping people navigate what is available is the gap IVFC was created to close.
THE RESOURCE CENTER
Partners under one roof
More services. One welcoming place.
IVFC manages the Illinois Valley Resource Center, bringing local organizations and service providers together in one convenient location so community members can access more of the support they need without having to travel throughout the county.
Community groups running mission-aligned programs open to the public can use our conference rooms free of charge, and our office space — when available — is offered on a paid basis that helps fund IVFC programs. See room & office availability.
WE ARE HERE
Our Commitment
We believe everyone in the Illinois Valley deserves to be treated with dignity, respect, and compassion. Our goal is to create a welcoming place where people can ask for help without judgment, find practical support, and feel connected to their community. We are committed to making our services accessible and equitable while honoring the different experiences, backgrounds, and needs of the people who call the Illinois Valley home. Read our full equity & nondiscrimination statement.