Monarch on 4th Offers Hope & Rebirth March 18, 2025 Every day is a celebration at the Monarch on 4th community hub in downtown Corvallis. Whether it’s a baby shower for a first-time mom recovering from addiction or a yoga party helping parents and infants develop new bonds, the welcoming space embraces every step of the journey through pregnancy, birth, and a baby’s first years. “Every single day, there’s something new, and it’s always fun and supportive,” said Miranda Tasker, Program Manager for Reconnections Counseling in Benton and Linn counties. Hers is one of four programs working together out of the converted home on 4th Street known as Monarch. The hub was created in May 2024 to provide birth-oriented services in Linn and Benton counties. It’s a space where doulas, counselors and peer wellness specialists can meet with clients, local organizations can hold meetings and classes, and pregnant people and families can receive food, clothing, diapers, and other essentials. More than 920 people came through the door in 2024, and there is a core of about 20 members in Tasker’s parenting and recovery group who participate five days a week. The partners working together within Monarch on 4th coalesced around a shared vision for supporting the pregnant and post-partum community, and assistance from the InterCommunity Health Network (IHN-CCO) Delivery System Transformation (DST) Committee has been a catalyst for their success. Connecting Services In 2020, Reconnections Counseling began piloting the Nurture Oregon program in Lincoln County, which offers intensive wraparound support and stigma-free care for pregnant and parenting people in recovery or experiencing substance use disorder (SUD). “We are truly working on whatever helps and promotes the health of that baby and parent together,” said Tasker. Many of their clients are houseless, so their team meets them where they are, providing essentials like food and shelter and assisting with behavioral health, substance abuse and parenting. According to a 2024 report from Nurture Oregon, nearly one in five (18%) of pregnant IHN-CCO members in Benton, Lincoln and Linn counties have been diagnosed with SUD, which is a major cause of pregnancy-related mortality. Doulas are among the services offered, which led to the creation of the Community Doula Program. A group of community partners began meeting once a week to discuss clients’ needs, from health care to housing, and find the best way to provide support. “We meet with families early in pregnancy and connect them with a peer-wellness specialist, peer-support specialist, doula, and a counselor who get to be with them their entire pregnancy and year after birth,” said Tasker, a certified doula and a counselor. “Families with a history of substance use or mental health concerns thrive when they receive ongoing support during this critical window of child and family development.” In 2022, Reconnections Counseling and the Community Doula Program applied for a DST grant to create Monarch on 4th and give the shared program a home that could accommodate people from a wide range of backgrounds. The collaborative now includes the Community Doula Program, Reconnections Counseling, Midvalley Nurture and JUST Care, with funding from InterCommunity Health Network and the Oregon Health Authority. Out of the Cocoon A new program is coming in 2025, as the DST will fund the Monarch Easy Access Clinic. This mobile program brings addiction treatment and behavioral health services to Benton and Lincoln counties. The clinic will offer prenatal checkups, addiction treatment medication and other services on the same days Reconnections recovery groups meet. Like its namesake butterfly, which migrates from Central America to North America each year, Monarch on 4th symbolizes hope and rebirth. The logo speaks to its mission of reaching people experiencing the major transformation of new parenting. “So often, we are focused only on the baby. The monarch represents the birth of the mother, coming out of the cocoon,” Tasker said. “You started as one thing, and now you’re somebody new after you’ve added children to your family.”
