Grandma’s House

A maternity home providing transitional living, emergency shelter, and support for parenting and pregnant youth.

A Strong Start For Two

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When this young mother arrived at Grandma’s House of Central Oregon, she had just welcomed her baby girl into the world days earlier. Like many young parents, she was navigating the overwhelming transition of caring for a newborn while also trying to plan for her future. She was on the cusp of graduating from high school and searching for a stable, supportive environment where she could focus on both her education and raising her daughter.

At Grandma’s House, she found exactly that. From the beginning, staff saw her determination. She was intelligent, motivated, and deeply committed to creating the best possible life for her baby. During the six months she spent in the program, she accomplished an extraordinary amount. She completed her high school requirements and proudly received her diploma. She enrolled at Central Oregon Community College and continued working full-time, balancing school, work, and the responsibilities of caring for a newborn.

Along the way, she focused on building strong parenting skills with support from community partners and Grandma’s House staff. Just as important were the friendships she formed with other young mothers in the program – relationships built on shared experiences, encouragement, and the understanding that they were navigating similar challenges together.

Over time, she gained confidence not only as a student and employee, but as a parent. Her time at Grandma’s House also gave her family something equally important: space to grow and reconnect. With stability and support in place, relationships began to heal. Eventually, she was able to reunite with her family and transition out of the program together. While reunification isn’t always the outcome, moments like these remind us of the power of time, support, and understanding.

Today, she continues building her future while raising her daughter – and occasionally returns to Grandma’s House to visit. Those visits are always special for staff. Watching her baby girl grow is a joyful reminder of how early support can shape not just one life, but two.

A Continuum of Care for Homeless Youth

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By working within the J Bar J suite of programs we were able to help Cassie leave a dangerous living situation. She was first connected with our Street Outreach Program and with their help she came to live at Grandma’s house. The case managers from Grandma’s House were able to help Cassie attain all her important paperwork such as birth certificate and license, find stable work, and attend classes on healthy pregnancy and mothering. She was also able to establish care with healthcare providers. She saved money and with the help of our housing program she is moving into her own apartment. Cassie felt empowered and confident enough to find herself a safe independent living situation. She will continue to work with our housing staff for the next year. She’s moving in this Sunday and will be able to properly care for the upcoming birth of her baby! 

Our Independent Living Program (ILP) was recently able to assist five former foster youth that were previously homeless. These former foster young people are now in stable, long-term housing. Creating an opportunity to provide stable housing to these youth allows them to continue employment and now report having a sense of belonging and security. There are many barriers that the youth face with housing in Central Oregon. ILP is grateful to assist them in finding safe, stable living situations. 

To help meet the needs of kids in the Redmond community, J Bar J recently opened the newest shelter facility for youth experiencing homelessness.   The Canal House is a valuable resource for homeless vulnerable youth.  The fully renovated house provides a safe space for kids to drop in, talk to a mentor, have a safe night’s sleep, and gain access to further resources.  

30 years of Grandma’s House

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This year marks 30 years of caring for pregnant and parenting youth. Grandma’s House became a part of J Bar J in 2017, but had a long history helping young mothers. The story of Grandma’s House is intertwined with that of its former Director, Woody Medieros, and our current Program Director, Eliza Wilson.

Woody first became focused on the needs of teen mothers when her own daughter became pregnant at sixteen. She began looking for resources in the community and found that there were not many available to pregnant teens. She also found that there were others teens that needed support, including two who were homeless. “So, it’s kind of my nature, I opened my door and we had two pregnant moms come live with us, one was 14 and one was 17. They had beautiful baby boys during that time,” she told us.

The awareness began to build around the need for services for these youth and a core group of people began reaching out to teen mothers, many of whom were couch surfing. The group decided our community needed a home for these youth so began fundraising and looking for a house. Woody began volunteering at Grandma’s House as soon as it opened.

Reflecting back, Woody said, “It’s been such an honor to be here through all these years. I had the privilege of rocking every baby at Grandma’s House.” At the time of her retirement in 2020, the shelter had served over 270 moms with their babies. “We did not turn anyone away. We learned the most important needs were getting these kids back in school where they could fulfill their education and learning parenting skills so they could become successful parents.”

Eliza Wilson, Director for Runaway and Homeless Youth which includes Grandma’s House, has a long history with both J Bar J and Grandma’s House. Eliza told us about her childhood and youth, “I remember being homeless for the first time at around five years old. Throughout my early adolescence and teenage years, my family struggled with finding housing off and on. The last time that I lived with my family was when we were living in a trailer in the Walmart parking lot, then at a shelter for families.”

Eliza left home at 16 and was soon connected with our Living Options for Teens (LOFT) program at Cascade Youth & Family Center, and found it to be very supportive. “I think it was the first time that an adult had asked me what I would like to do, if I would like to get a GED or if I’d like to go back to school. I chose to go back to school and would end up living at the LOFT for about three years until I finished high school, started college, and moved out on my own.”

About seven months after leaving, Eliza became pregnant. She returned to the LOFT, because they were her family and support. Later in her pregnancy, she moved to Grandma’s House where she found resources specifically for pregnant teens and young mothers, including childbirth education and parenting classes.

She arrived scared and worried about what her future held, what her daughter’s future would be like. “Seeing that other moms are here going through the same thing, and that the staff were there to really guide us and show us love and support, that had a huge impact on my life. Really, for the first time in my life, I saw what power women had when they worked together and supported each other.”

Now Eliza is one of those women as she leads Grandma’s House into the future. Thanks to our donors and supporters we are celebrating thirty years of people coming together to support pregnant teens and young mothers. Together we are helping them build the foundation, learn the skills, and create a support network they will need in their lives beyond Grandma’s House.

Woody’s Love

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Woody Medeiros, Director of Grandma’s House is retiring. Woody has been an advocate for Teen Mothers since her own teen daughter became a mom. “When my daughter was 16-year-old she had a baby boy.  There weren’t a lot of resources at that time and we found that there were other pregnant teens that were homeless.  We opened our home to any pregnant teen in need of support and two girls moved in with us long-term. One was 14 years old, her son was born the same year as my grandson.  The other mom was 17, she chose adoption for her son.  These women are still like daughters to us and their children think of us as grandparents.  My grandson is now 29 and is a teacher at Marshal High School.  One of our current residents is in his class.  She often comes home excited to tell me, “Mr. Johnson says he loves you!”   Everybody does! Woody has touched hundreds of moms and babies and everyone that has had the pleasure to work with her over these nearly 30 years. She will be missed!

Woody started with Grandma’s House in 1992 as a volunteer. Over these years Woody has used her heart and talent to advocate for pregnant teen moms who cannot advocate for themselves. She has developed community partners and long-term relationships with the region. Woody believes that if you give youth positive support and the tools to build a life, you guide them towards a future most never knew was possible.  Woody has served numerous community organizations: Parents of Teen Parents, Homeless Leadership Coalition, one-night shelter count, Project Connect, and others.

Woody’s favorite quote is by Liam Neeson: “Everyone says love hurts.  That’s not true.  Loneliness hurts.  Rejection hurts.  Losing someone hurts.  Envy hurts.  Everyone gets these things confused with love, but in reality, love is the only thing in this world that covers up all the pain and makes someone feel wonderful again.  Love is the only thing in this world that does not hurt.”  Thank you Woody for your pure heart and dedication to these young girls that desperately needed the support of you and Grandma’s House.