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Oasis gives families a real chance to acquire skills needed to break out of the cycle of poverty and dependence.

Find out more about what we do:

What We do

How We Help

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Oasis is a non-profit organization in Paterson, New Jersey, dedicated to assisting impoverished families who strive to achieve economic independence by providing educational programs to equip women and children with the skills they need to become self-sufficient. We provide a “hand up, not a hand out” by offering Adult Education classes for women and educational enrichment programs for at-risk youth in the community, completely free of charge. All programs are designed to help these families succeed in the workplace and in the public education system.

 

Our founders, Ann Wagner and Christine DeVita Briet, opened our doors in 1997, to provide meal services to poor women and children.  At that time, women and children living in poverty in Paterson, New Jersey did not have access to a soup kitchen for a daily hot meal.  As a result, our founders rented space in a local church on Main Street and began providing meals to hungry women and children in the community.  Over the years, our programs and services grew to include literacy, language and workforce development skills.  Adult Literacy, GED, Workplace Readiness, ESL and Computer Training classes were added, as well as support services including clothing distribution, food pantry, domestic violence screening and referral, women’s health screening, social services counseling and referral, child care, an after-school mentoring program, summer camp program for at risk youth, and our newly implemented teen program for girls.  Today we are the ONLY nonprofit organization in the area providing all of these programs and services in one location, completely free of charge.   Our growth is evident in the milestones we recently achieved:

  • Over 65,000 hot meals served annually to women and children attending our educational programs and to women in the community during Community Lunch,
  • Over 17,000 volunteer hours contributed towards the delivery of Oasis programs and services in the past year,
  • On average 600 women and children receive services on a daily basis,
  • Adult Education Classes continue to be at 100% capacity,
  • After School Program continues to be at 100% capacity,
  • Summer Camp Program expanded for the third year in a row to now serve 170 children,
  • New programming includes: adult basic literacy, workplace readiness services, domestic violence screening and referral, women’s health screening, and teen girls program