By: michela caple E-mail: emailprotected The Social Agency Oasis? mission is to provide services to battered women and their children. They feel everyone has th right to a life free from violence.
Oasis does not necessarily try to end these abusive relationships they encounter, just the violence. They believe in self determination and support their clients in any decision they make. Oasis only wants what is best for everyone involved. They are the leading women?s advocate for this area. Eligibility requirements for Oasis, firstly the women must be in a dangerous situation at home.
She is a victim of abuse or sexual abuse. She does not have anywhere else to go and cannot leave on her own. She is not aloud to give the location of the shelter to anyone, that would put the whole house at risk. She has to come out and meet the volunteers at the courthouse, the police station or the hospital because they have security. Security is important incase a dangerous situaton arises.
She also cannot be on any type of substance, alcohol or drugs. Terry Julian, Oasis,( personal communication, March 15, 2000). Oasis provides for their clients a 24-hour crisis line for family violence and sexual assault. Shelter for abused women and their children. They provide only short term counseling for their clients.
Oasis can refer the women to phsycologists but, they do not have recoveery counseling. They provide advocacy and companionship for victims needing assistance through medical examinations, law enforcement and court procedures. They provide information and referals and also educational programs to schools and the community. Oasis is a short-term assistance program only.
If a woman and child were to come to them with only the clothes on their back?s, then Oasis would provide them with the basics. The shelter will feed them, clothe them and provide temporary housing. Oasis also has transition housing to help get these ladies back on their feet. Support groups are sometimes avaliable but, that depends on whether there are women around who need to come to the meetings. There is no charge for any service Oasis provides but, they are not able to give cash either.
Oasis could only give someone money if they just needed to have alittle to get somewhere close, such as Charlotte. Terry Julian, Oasis (personal communication March 15,2000). Oasis operates on Federal and State grants, private donations and help from United Way. Oasis runs with a board of fifteen people and six are full time employees. There is an executive director who is the grant writer, then there is the director of client services and her assistant. The latter two work with the clients at the shelter.
Then there is the community educator and the volunteer coordinator . Volunteers play a big part in Oasis operations and they receive 20 hours of training from the community educator before becoming active. Volunteers can work the crisis line, work at the shelter or become an advocate. Terry Julian, Oasis (personal communication March 15,2000). During 1999 Oasis had seventeen women and twenty-eight children stay at the shelter. They had ninety-five non-shelter domestic violence cases, eighteen non-shelter sexual assalt cases and three-hundred seventy-five crisis calls.
Domestic violence occurs with all ethnic and cultural backgrounds but, Boone and Watauga, Alleghany and Ashe counties do not correctly represent the American Population. Because this area is predominatly made up of middle to lower class caucasian Southern Baptists, these are the women they see. Terry Julian, Oasis (personal communication March 15,2000). Despite the wonderful services Oasis provides, they have a few shortcomings. The biggest one is that the shelter is only temporary, just to get women out of immediate danger. But on the up side they do have transitional housing for the women and their children to get into and get back on their feet.
Another downfall is that they do not have any trained counselors. Since they are a non-profit organization they more then likely would not be able to get a professional to work for free. One might be willing to give them some time but, they could not afford to give all their time and knowledge. The last problem the shelter has but, is not their
