Crisis & Residential Services operates Middle Tennessee’s only licensed emergency shelter for youth ages 12-17 who are runaways, homeless, or who are in crisis in other ways. In addition, we operate Middle Tennessee’s only group home offering housing, life-skills training, educational and employment assistance to homeless youth ages 17-21. Other services include a 24-hour crisis hotline; 24 hour walk-in counseling; an alternative school for youth in residence; Project Safe Place; and Street Outreach to runaway youth living on the streets. More than 4,500 youth and families are served through this program, annually, with an additional 7,800 impacted through educational programs.

Counseling Services offers individual, group and family therapy for youth 12-17. Other innovative services include a Primary Prevention Program (substance abuse prevention groups in Metro schools); YVTV-Youth Voice Through Video, a film production program for youth leaving Juvenile Court; International Teen Outreach (groups for international youth with a strong community service component; Family Retreat Weekend (a joint project with Juvenile Court); and Alcohol and Drug Safety Education programs (intervention classes for young first offenders and their parents). Counseling Services provides intervention and counseling to more than 1,000 youth and families each year.

Youth Leadership Development (YLD) is a program area dedicated to promoting and providing opportunities for youth to recognize and develop their leadership potential through meaningful involvement in the community. The addition of YLD in 1997 expanded Oasis Center’s reach to all youth in the community, not solely to youth in crisis. Youth gain competence and leadership skills through several initiatives, including: PULSE (a youth volunteer initiative), the Oasis Youth Council (youth trained to assist other youth), and Nashville Youth Leadership (a year-long class for high school sophomores similar to Leadership Nashville). More than 1,500 youth contribute to the Nashville community each year through YLD programs.

Since 1993, we have engaged more than 15,000 teens in community service through our PULSE program. Oasis Center holds high expectations for youth and views them as agents for community change. Young people serve on our governing board, on hiring committees, as key media spokespersons and in positions of responsibility at all levels of the agency. In 2003, Oasis Center was one of 8 organizations nationwide to be awarded a 75th Anniversary Grant by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation to create the Youth Innovation Project (www.service-learningpartnership.org/youth_innovation).

Our work is rooted in the vision that we must hold each other accountable to promote a community where:

• All young people experience safety, dignity, and growth
• Relationships are based on caring, compassion, and respect,
• Equality and justice are valued and promoted

To find out more about Oasis go to www.oasiscenter.org or www.teenedge.com