GRANTEE SPOTLIGHT

Oasis

The mission of Oasis is to change the lives of women and children by breaking the cycle of poverty through compassionate programs designed to feed, clothe, educate and empower women and children in need in Paterson. Paterson is a city of 150,000 people, one third of whom live at or below the poverty line ($26,200 annual income for a family of four). Many Paterson residents are Black, Latinos, or recent migrants to the United States, and they suffer poverty at higher rates than average.

Oasis provides holistic services to help women and children address the challenges of living in poverty. Our education programs include GED, ESL, Computer Training, Job Readiness and Citizenship, as well as fully academic afterschool programs for children and teens. We provide meals in our soup kitchen, food pantry packages, diapers and personal

hygiene products. Importantly, we have three full-time social workers and a family navigator to assist families with any challenges they may face. Impact 100’s grant enabled us to expand our GED program so that we could help many more women living in poverty earn their high school equivalency degree, enabling them to dream of a better life for themselves and their children. Specifically, we were able to add a basic literacy and numeracy class, so that women who were testing at early elementary school levels who needed to learn basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills could gain the proficiencies they needed to move forward.

Impact 100 members are engaged at every level of the process. They are thoughtful and thorough and are true partners in the work they support. The engagement does not stop once the grant period is complete, as Impact 100 members continue to engage and support Oasis programming on many levels.

Below, 2021 Impact100 Garden State grant recipients. From left: Norwescap, Community Options Enterprises, and Family Promise of Sussex County

Impact 100’s grant enabled us to expand our GED program so that we could help many more women living in poverty earn their high school equivalency degree, enabling them to dream of a better life for themselves and their children.

43% 8 in 10

of members surveyed offered additional support to nonprofits they learned about through Impact 100 Garden State

members surveyed said they gained more knowledge about local community needs through participation in Impact 100 Garden State