Nuci's Space's mission is to prevent suicide with a focus on musicians. Nuci's opened its doors in September 2000 as a one-of-a-kind center that serves as a nurturing environment for musicians with resources for medical care, counseling, and support groups.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
[Bob]: Simply put Nuçi's Space. Our mission is to prevent suicide. We're not gonna be as successful at trying to change the world's attitude about depression and suicide and mental illness. But what we can focus on is our four walls.
Nuçi's Space is a very cool unique weird little nonprofit. We do lots of different things. So for some people it's community center to stop in and just kind of connect with folks. Other people, it's a Chamber Commerce. You're brand new to Athens. You want to know kind of the lay of the land where to play and who to talk to.
We're sort of like a health clinic in some ways. You know if you need resources you can come and we can help you out that way. You know we also serve as you know your friend's kitchen during a party you know where everybody congregates just to have a conversation.
So rather than kind of create this clinic or counseling center and try to draw people to it. We basically created a music center and dropped mental health access in the middle of that.
[Lesley]: Because that's the whole reason that were designed as we are. It's very purposeful that there's no therapy on-site. It's a place where musicians can come in and feel comfortable and relaxed.
[Bob]: Our success is surprisingly simple or based on a very simple concept of listening to other people and caring about other people and then doing everything we possibly can to help one another.
It's really that simple.
[Lesley]: No matter what we put into the community it comes back and it comes back with much more love than we could ever give. It's fantastic. Yeah. If you look at the musicians in Athens every weekend there's something on somewhere where people are raising money for us and it's just fantastic to witness it.
And it's always the musicians you know they're working so hard for us all the time. They're an amazing group of people. They're doing it for their friends. You know we're all one huge community. There's no doubt about that. We're right in the middle of it and it's like a little maelstrom around us.
Cause we start with Camp Amped. You know we've got people coming in at age 12 so the musicians that are coming up and coming through camp they've left camp at 18.
They start volunteering here. They start working here on a night. They intern here when they're at university. They're part of Nuçi's Space.
[Bob]: And I think that's what makes Nuçi's Space unique is that it's not just one size fits all. It really can become whatever meet the needs of the person walking through the door.
[Lesley]: Somebody came in to Nuci's the other day to make a small donation and as they were leaving they said you know you guys saved my life right. I said oh man, I said oh be away with you. You did that you did that yourself you know and. It's something else. Yeah.