Oasis Community Housing gives mothers in Gateshead the hope they need. Donate today and you can give hope too.
No mother should be left alone or afraid.
You’re sitting in a hospital bay, new baby in your arms, tired and aching but happy gazing down at this new life full of hope. Then you realise the women in the bed next to you has nowhere to go, she has no flowers on the side table, no smiling family members to take the baby when her arms are too tired, no congratulations, no well done.
No woman should face pregnancy, childbirth or parenting alone.
The beginnings of Oasis Community Housing
This was the moment one of our remarkable founders, Jo Grant, was inspired to act and create what was then called Aquila House, later to become Oasis Community Housing. On the ward with her own young baby at the QE hospital Jo couldn’t rest easy with the knowledge that the 15 year old girl next to her, cradling her own child, couldn’t be discharged as she had nowhere to go.
Elizabeth House, our mother and baby unit, was created with the desire to provide safety, refuge and guidance to pregnant women and women with young babies who have poor or no support.
Many of these woman are no stranger to abuse, neglect and trauma. Elizabeth House is a place they are welcomed and ushered into safety. They are giving the support, guidance and love they need to get back on their feet. To have support throughout pregnancy, birth and beyond with their children in a safe space and find a way forward.
A place of safety
Deborah Proud who leads this project proudly says, “We don’t judge. We accept every young woman just as they are.”