The YMCA Oasis Youth Shelter is an emergency shelter for teens ages 13-17 facing homelessness or housing insecurity. The shelter serves a high number of historically marginalized and underserved communities, including Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and LGBTQIA2+ teens.  

It is an essential place for young people who have nowhere else to turn. It provides not just a roof over their heads, but the comprehensive support they need to overcome trauma, develop essential life skills, and get back on their feet. Youth are provided with their basic necessities of shelter, clothing, food, school and hygiene supplies, and access to supportive adults who are trained in best practices for serving at-risk and traumatized youth.  

While in the program, youth collaborate with a Case Manager to develop a housing and educational goal. Youth are held to universal Community Guidelines and rules of the shelter, but their individual service plans are developed in accordance with their developmental stage. 

We believe a strong community can be achieved when we invest in our kids, our health, and our neighbors. To this end, the Y operates programs beyond our “swim and gym” facility on Hoag Road like the Oasis Youth Shelter. We make investments in our community that provide at-risk youth access to safe and clean housing, meals, drop-in activities, and outreach programs. This aligns with our mission to create positive community change. 

The Y took over Oasis from Skagit Youth Servies (now known as Youthnet) in 2001 and assumed complete financial responsibility for the program in 2005. The Y bought the building in 2008.

Our team had a feasibility study completed on the building and what a renovation would look like versus completely rebuilding the structure. The opportunity to build a new building that’s modern, larger, and better designed to serve young people was too good an opportunity to pass up. The current building is over 100 years old and it is not properly designed to be a good shelter to meet the needs of today. By building a new shelter, we will be better equipped to continue serving young people for the next generation(s). 

Yes! All donations are tax-exempt and every dollar helps us better serve young people in our community.

Monetary gifts can be made by visiting www.skagitymca.org/give. If you prefer to donate via check or cash, please drop off or mail an envelope with your donation to the Hoag Road location (1901 Hoag Road, Mount Vernon, WA, 98273) in an envelope directed to “Attn: Donations.” Please make checks out to “Skagit Valley Family YMCA – Oasis.”