A pair of moms who volunteered at a Tampa Palms Title I school 20 years ago noticed something striking. Many of the students wore shoes that were too small and clothes that were too large. This was the incident that inspired them to create OASIS Opportunities.
“They noticed that some of the students really struggled” to attend classes daily, said Dawn Schulman, executive director of OASIS Opportunities. OASIS is a nonprofit that works through school social workers to get students what they need.
Those two moms started a clothes closet that has since expanded to three locations and an online order site. Their mission is to get new or gently used clothing and hygiene items to at-risk students.
Today, some 200 volunteers help keep the engine moving. They sort, inventory and deliver the items to social workers, who work with student families to distribute donated goods.
Twenty years of helping out at OASIS Opportunities
OASIS Opportunities will mark its 20th anniversary on March 26 at St. Joseph’s Hospital’s Medical Arts Building from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The public is invited to the free event, which will include carnival games, music, food and a chance to meet volunteers, staff and school social workers. The hospital is at 3001 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
There is a registration link on the OASIS Opportunities website.
Schulman, who began working with OASIS Opportunities six years ago, spent 17 years in the classroom before taking a sabbatical and a part-time job with the nonprofit. “I loved what they did so much that I switched careers from teaching to engaging in what students need,” she said.
Kids worry about the shoes pinching their feet or whether they will get dinner at night, she said. That is where the 200 volunteers come in, both adults and teens. “A lot of our teens do laundry so donated items are like new and ready to go on the shelves,” Schulman said.
“Our adults come on a weekly basis to our sites in Tampa Palms and South Tampa to sort, take inventory, restock shelves and fill delivery orders from social workers.”
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Next fall, OASIS Opportunities is adding a mobile closet that will visit Title I high schools weekly. Title I schools have the highest percentage of students qualifying for free and reduced lunches due to low income.
“When COVID-19 started, to make sure we were still serving our students, we piggy-backed with the school lunch program to get hygiene bags out weekly with food donations,” Schulman said.
She describes OASIS Opportunities as a “secret, undercover group” accessed by school social workers. “We don’t have a storefront, so we are kind of undercover, but now, we are ready to let everyone know what we are doing.”
Helping kids reach their potential
In 2021 alone, OASIS Opportunities served 11,551 students with over 43,000 items. In 2020, when COVID shut down schools, it still managed to serve 8,800 students by partnering with the mobile school lunch program.
“We usually serve around 4,300 homeless students per year, and we served all low-income students based on their free and reduced lunch status,” she said. “If students are at risk for other reasons, such as if they are foster kids, we serve them, too.”
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OASIS Opportunities accepts both new and gently used clothing items and new toiletries and hygiene items. “We have two community donation bins, one at Chiles Elementary in Tampa Palms and one in South Tampa at Coleman Middle School,” Schulman said. Bloomingdale High School in Brandon accepts donations during school hours.
“We are really excited about serving our teen population with the mobile closet,” she said. “We are going to start out going to all Title I schools and within three years, we want to serve all high schools in Hillsborough County.”
A Few Facts
- Hillsborough County is the seventh largest school district in the United States. 60% of Hillsborough County Public Schools students qualify for the free or reduced lunch program.
- OASIS serves over 11,000 students per year with clothing, hygiene items, and basic needs.
- By the time children living in poverty are four years old, they lag 18 months below what is “normal” cognitive development for their age group.
OASIS Opportunities empowers all students to “realize their potential to be exceptional by providing equal access to essentials such as clothing, shoes, hygiene items, and school supplies. Its primary mission is to help at-risk and low-income students overcome barriers to consistent school attendance and academic success.”
To learn more about OASIS Opportunities and its 20th-anniversary celebration, call 813.699.9131. You can also visit the Events page on the website – www.oasisopportunities.org.
