In order to highlight pockets of excellence across the country, the NNED selects a partner organization to highlight once a month. Oasis Center, has been selected as the Partner of the Month for December.
In 1969, a group of young lawyers came together to establish the “Rap House,” a simple community center for runaway teens and youth struggling with addictions in Nashville, Tennessee. Nearly 50 years later, the “Rap House” has evolved into Oasis Center, where over 3,000 youth and families turn for help and direct support every year. Oasis Center provides a wide range of opportunities that reflect the diverse needs of youth and their families, from crisis intervention to youth leadership and community engagement to college and career access. All of the work is also firmly rooted in the evidence-based principles of Positive Youth Development and Trauma-Informed Care.
Some of the programs and services that are currently offered:
- Teen Outreach Program (TOP) – In the TOP club, teens have the power to make a real difference in the community while building friendships with other like-minded young people.
- Metro Transit Authority (MTA) Youth Action Team – MTA Youth Action team really helps teens to find their voice and teaches them how to use it to create change—not only in the transit system, but everywhere else in life.
- Building Bridges – In this program, teens get the chance to bridge the gaps so many of society’s misconceptions have created and to build bridges of understanding, acceptance and tolerance of people who may be different from each other.
- Counseling – Oasis Center is where teens will be able to find a safe place to talk and get some help figuring things out.
- Just Us – Just Us works to create an empowering and supportive environment for LGBTQI+ youth. The goal is to help youth build confidence, celebrate their identity, and use their voices to create a culture of acceptance in the communities.
- Street Outreach Program – The Street Outreach Program helps young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 who are sleeping outside, living temporarily at someone’s house, staying at a shelter, or passing through town looking for a safe place to stay.
Learn more about the Oasis Center, and their mission to help young people in Middle Tennessee move into a happy, healthy and productive adulthood. Rather than viewing youth as passive recipients, they see them as full stakeholders who hold the keys to addressing some of the most challenging problems facing our city, including violence reduction, improved graduation rates, bullying prevention, discrimination and intolerance.
View a list of previous NNED Partners of the Month.