Nuçi’s Space is located at 396 Oconee St. and has offered mental health resources to the Athens Community since 2000. Another service provided at Nuçi’s Space, is its annual Camp Amped for young musicians in middle and high school. “There’s something about (the sessions) because it’s sad but it’s also magical because (…) you realize that everybody is going through something,” Nuci’s Space counseling advocate Lensey Cobbs said. Photo from ODYSSEY archives.
Local music and mental health outlet Nuçi’s Space has been helping members of the Athens community since its opening in 2000.
Since 2000, Nuçi’s Space, a resource center located at 396 Oconee St., has opened its doors to musicians of all ages. While Nuçi’s Space offers music classes and the Camp Amped program, its staff also works to spread mental health awareness and help young adults in the Athens community with their mental health
According to its website, Nuçi’s Space “maintains a health and resource center for musicians as a safe space to seek support and guidance, provides access to affordable, obstacle-free professional care, actively participates in treatment and educates about awareness, prevention and the risk factors of brain illnesses.”
After Linda Phillips lost her son Nuçi Phillips, a musician, to suicide, she decided to create a safe space where those who suffered from mental illness could play music, while also having access to mental health professionals if needed.
“All of a sudden people start answering questions and their own stories come out, and you realize that everybody is going through something.”
— Lensey Cobbs,
Nuci’s Space Counseling Advocate
Nuçi’s Space counseling advocate Lensey Cobbs says that Linda hoped to create a safe place where musicians who may be struggling with mental health problems could seek help.
“Nuçi was a student at UGA and a musician here in Athens. He came from a really good family, who loved him and cared for him, and he loved them. He fought with depression for five years and he tried to take his own life a couple of times and obviously, he lost the battle and he took his own life,” Cobbs said. “Linda, his mom, (founded) Nuçi’s Space so that if a musician needed help they could come here. She hoped that it would be a place where, if Nuçi had known about it, he would have come.”
As a counseling advocate at Nuçi’s Space, Cobbs helps oversee musicians and other community members as they transition into getting help from professional psychiatrists.
“When someone needs mental health facilities they would come and ask me about how to go about that and I would either direct them to the services needed or I would tell them how to go about getting an appointment. Sometimes, they have no idea what’s available, so I can help someone work out whatever it is that they need. Then other times, I can help them out financially, so if they are a musician then we can help out with some of the barriers of treatment because mental health treatment is very expensive,” Cobbs said.
One way Nuçi’s space reaches out to younger musicians in the Athens community is through a program known as Camp Amped. The camp provides middle school through high school students with a musical outlet.
Unlike traditional music camps, Camp Amped also teaches students the importance of mental health.
“There’s something about (the sessions) because it’s sad but it’s also magical because you realize that everybody around you, who you thought, ‘Oh, they’ve got it good. They’re happy.’ And you think it’s just you. Then all of a sudden people start answering questions and their own stories come out, and you realize that everybody is going through something,” Cobbs said.
Current Clarke Central High School junior Quinn Phillips (left), sophomore Roan O’Reilly (middle), and freshman Holland Zwart (right) perform at the Camp Amped fall session concert at Nuçi’s Space on Oct. 22, 2017. Phillips was grateful for the opportunities that the camp provides to young musicians. “(Camp Amped) means being able to do what I love without any restrictions or fears,” Phillips said in 2017. Photo by Elena Gilbertson Hall.
Clarke Central High School freshman Tommy Lynn has been attending Camp Amped since 2015 and believes that the camp has had a positive effect on him.
“I think one of the most important parts about (Nuçi’s Space) is the safe space that was created. Whether it be the location or the people working there, they have done a really good job of that,” Lynn said. “I feel like it’s my home away from home.”
According to Cobbs, Nuçi’s Space seeks to provide those in need of mental support a place where they can truly feel at home.
“Nuçi’s mission is to put an end to the epidemic of suicide and we do that by providing access to treatment and trying to remove the stigma of mental health. They get to know us and then hopefully, if they ever need mental health treatment they will feel comfortable asking for help,” Cobbs said.
