Oasis House

Volunteer Opportunities: Yes

Mission: Oasis House offers hope and support to women victims of sexual exploitation by promoting healing, restoration, and empowerment through Christ's unconditional love, teaching practical life skills, and mentoring through a transformational process.

History: 2005 Relationship Established
North Dixie Drive in Harrison Township, Dayton, Ohio is the location of the highest concentration
of sexually-oriented businesses in the State of Ohio and is known as the “Dixie Strip”. In November
2005, Associate Pastor, Sharon Amos, of Higher Ground United Methodist Church, a well-established
church of the local area, became aware of a profound need to develop services, effective intervention,
and intensive case management for women trafficked through the adult entertainment businesses
located along the Dixie Strip. A dancer from one of the nightclubs attended a worship service at Higher
Ground Church and shared her amazing story of life and survival within the sex industry with Pastor
Sharon. Following this encounter, it was recognized that several serious unmet needs exist for women
suffering as a result of this industry, namely, 1) lack of education, 2) lack of legitimate work options, 3)
lack of safe housing options, and 4) significant physiological and psychological effects imposed. Pastor
Sharon also recognized other significant issues such as, the sex industry business represented a longterm
threat to the community in which they conducted service as a whole (i.e. housing market values,
safety and crime levels, etc.), and women trapped in this industry constitute a segment of the
population who are essentially forgotten.
2006 Oasis House Established
Oasis House is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and was established at 6333 North Dixie Drive,
to support the women who work in the nightclubs located in the heart of the busiest sex industry area in
the State of Ohio. Oasis House offers a comfortable and welcoming environment where we provide
education, counseling and support. We understand the immediacy of these services to women who
work in the industry, as these deficiencies ensure their continued vulnerability to those who wish to prey
upon and exploit them. This population we serve has not historically had the benefit of programs
designed specifically for their needs. A large percentage of the women working in the sex industry have
sustained an abusive childhood, are caught in a web of addictions, are victims of domestic violence, have
low education and work skill levels, deal with family alienation and homelessness, and suffer from low
self-worth.
Oasis House offers, at no charge, GED tutoring and basic computer skills training one-on-one to
any woman, including the dancers and other employees of the nightclubs on the “Dixie Strip”. Our staff
includes a licensed professional counselor who donates her time and a spiritual leader trained in
counseling. Each provides their services free of charge to a population group that has no medical
insurance. We offer self-empowerment classes; spiritual support and crisis intervention; referrals to
specialized professionals; and provide long-term transition counseling. Aid is provided for the women
who are in need of food, health care, drug and/or alcohol rehabilitation, furniture and clothing. These
services, along with our outreach initiatives positively and effectively affect the women’s psychological
needs, provide encouragement for education and allow for professional counseling for addiction
recovery.
We conduct weekly outreach projects directly to women within the nightclubs. These outreach
efforts include offering a hot, home-cooked meal to each women, often times right in the dressing
rooms of the nightclubs on the “Dixie Strip.” These efforts have proven essential and effective as they
allow us to form relationships with the women who work there. For women in our program, managing
life year around can be difficult at best. The holidays are often much more debilitating, therefore our
outreach efforts focus on a personal care approach by providing concrete services and emotional
support. We provide gift bags to each woman, we serve Thanksgiving dinner in their dressing rooms and
we sponsor Christmas parties for their children. We realize the power of listening, serving and genuinely
showing care, elements often lacking in the lives of these women, coupled with the provision of quality,
integrated services are key to the success of our program and the women we serve. Additionally, these
efforts also provide staff with an opportunity to forge trusting relationships with owners and managers
of these establishments resulting in preliminary but marked “buy-in” from them. For example, we have
had four managers and/or owners contact staff requesting psychological, addiction, and other
supportive assistance for a “dancer.”
2007 Opened Palms Boutique
In November 2007, we opened the Palms Boutique to help support Oasis House financially and to
give us the opportunity to reach more women. Currently located at 4800 North Dixie Drive, the
boutique features new and gently-used fashions, formals, jewelry and accessories for women of all ages.
We also provide free clothing for any of the women we serve who need appropriate clothing for
occasions such as, but not limited to, job or school interviews.
2008 Jail Outreach
We began visiting women in the Dayton/Montgomery County and Greene County Jails to provide
continuance of care as many of the women we encounter in the nightclubs are incarcerated for
prostitution and/or drug use. We have a team of staff/volunteer members who have been trained at
the Montgomery County Jail to counsel and encourage the women during their period of incarceration
and after their release. In addition to visiting our own clients, we visit women who are referred to us by
the Dayton/Montgomery County Jail Chaplain.
2008 Ohio Benefit Bank
Four staff/volunteer members have been trained to determine a client’s eligibility to receive
personal and children’s benefits provided by the State of Ohio.
2008 Prostitution Intervention Collaborative (PIC)
We are a member of the Dayton/Montgomery County’s Prostitution Intervention Collaborative
(PIC), serving with the City of Dayton Police Department, Dayton/Montgomery County Judicial Officials,
Southeast Dayton Weed & Seed and various other social service agencies. The goal of the PIC is to
facilitate the recovery of prostitutes and victims of human trafficking so they can become balanced
physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, to be self-supporting apart from the sex industry, and to
become active participants in a healthy community. Oasis House sits on the PIC Housing Committee,
recognizing the need for a Safe House for women transitioning out of the sex industry.
2009 National Human Trafficking Hotline, Washington, D.C.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline in Washington D.C. has listed Oasis House as a resource
2016 Oasis House begins offering safe housing to women.