_
Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Friday, Dec. 18, 2009

Spreading the word, helping the Westside

Store provides discounted items

Story Tools

tool name

close
tool goes here

The sign on the window says it.

It reads, "Help us help our community."

Recently Oasis Community Center opened up a business on the 1000 block of I Street that members hope will motivate people to obey the sign.

"As our church, we've always had a big heart and a big desire to do things," said Doug Young, a pastor at Oasis. "I was talking with one of the ladies with the Chamber of Commerce. She asked me, 'Well, what is this store exactly? Is it a ministry, is it an outreach, is it a business, is it a fundraiser? I said it's all of it."

Oasis RMA Restore seems to be one part clothing store, one part Goodwill and one part thrift shop. Items are sold for profit, donations of just about anything are accepted and people in need are given merchandise.

It's providing for the needy that Susan Young, who runs the business, talks about the most.

"It's just a really great feeling to be able to help your community," she said. "We had a woman, she was pregnant and it was cold outside. She had flip flops on and a white T-shirt. She had nothing. To be able to pull things off the rack and give her things, it's not a fix completely but it's something more than she came in with."

Doug Young said Oasis' concentration is on helping people on the Westside, but eventually he wants to branch out, possibly as far as Patterson.

"One of the really big questions we've been asked, is this going to the local ministry. We're able to do that now, provide that here in Los Baños."

Oasis Community Center is in the process of rebuilding its church after a fire destroyed it. The prospect of opening a store while the rebuild is occurs was daunting, but after years of prodding by the church's Texas headquarters Doug Young said he believes it was time for it to happen.

"Our bishop told us, probably four or five years ago, 'You guys need to step out and do this.' It was kind of a big project to take on. We were already maxed out with the church rebuilding, then to add this, it's like I can't believe I'm doing this. But there's never going to be a right time," Doug Young said. "We just stepped out on faith and went for it."

Susan Young said in the few weeks the store has been open business has been good. That's especially true of the weekends. Saturday is half-off day.

"It's really funny," Susan Young said. "People will come in on Friday, sometimes Thursday evening,and they kind of scope out what they're coming in for Saturday morning. We've had two or three Saturdays now where we've had a line out the door."

The business has seven workers/volunteers. Rebecca Granados is one of them.

"God put me here," she said. "I know he did. Everyday, no matter where I'm at, if I'm washing clothes, at a store, whatever, I just tell people. There's a couple people I told that came in just yesterday, and they liked it."

Doug Young said part of what brought the store about was a program the Oasis organization has called Role Models of America.

"One of the core values for Role Models of America is being a role model not only to teenagers, but to the whole community," he said.

_ _ _