Blog
Volunteers and CVS Health Workforce Initiative Helps Reentry Program Fill Over 200 Essential Bags
RISE provides "Welcome Home" bags to all RISE graduates who return home. Valued at over $100, each bag includes personal care items like body wash, shampoo, laundry detergent and towels. We all know how expensive a trip for essentials like this can be - lifting this one financial burden means a lot to us and the people we serve.
Real Reentry: Moving Up
RISE not only opened a reentry office in Lincoln last month but also moved from the second floor of the Blackstone Plaza to the fifth floor. September was…wild, chaotic, thrilling, sweaty, hard, beautiful, and joyful.
Union Pacific Volunteers with RISE
Research has shown that staying connected with family while incarcerated is wildly beneficial. It improves health, behavior, and can reduce the likelihood individuals will return to prison after being released.
Welcome Home: Real Reentry
Reentry is crisis. It's not uncommon to have a roof over your head one day and the threat of it being gone the next. Access to housing can help improve public safety, as research has shown it is correlated with decreases in crime and recidivism.
2023 Courageous Innovator Impact Award Finalist
At RISE, data is more than a number. Data helps tell the story of our participants. Data allows us to see trends and gaps. Data supports our decisions.
RISE Awarded $30,000 Impact Grant from First National Bank Fund
RISE is proud to announce being awarded a $30,000 Impact Grant through FNBO's First National Bank Fund c/o the Nebraska Community Foundation. This grant will go towards supporting the RISE Employment Program.
Voting Rights in Jail
Knowing your voting rights while currently detained in jail can be confusing. But know this: if you or your loved one is currently detained in a Nebraska jail, you may still be eligible to vote!
RISE Youth & Family Program Updates for Quarter 2, 2022
The community turned out for another successful RISE Family Wellness Collective showcase event located at the Hot Shops Art Studios, which highlighted storybooks written and illustrated by program participants during the Trauma, Grief, & Resiliency cohort and poems written during the Self-Actualization cohort.
DEI September: Hispanic Heritage Month
The RISE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee invites you to recognize Hispanic Heritage Month during September, as this directly impacts the people we work with and care about.
I had a full circle moment.
At RISE, our mission is to end the generational cycles of incarceration. Our mission comes to fruition in a variety of ways.
DEI August: Women’s Equality
The RISE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee invites you to recognize Women’s Equality during August, as this directly impacts the people we work with and care about.
RISE Receives $20,000 Donation from Medica Supporting Reentry Services in Nebraska.
RISE announced a donation of $20,000 from the Medica Foundation, a community-focused giving arm of Medica funding health initiatives across Nebraska. Medica’s funding of $20,000 goes directly to supporting RISE’s In-Prison Program and Youth & Family Program.
RISE Program Graduates in the Community Receive Free Do Space Tech Packs
RISE graduates received free Tech Packs from Do Space as a means to support digital equity in Omaha. The Tech Pack program distributed laptops, Wi-Fi hotspots, free internet, computer training, and one-on-one technology tutoring - a substantial need for those coming out of incarceration.
RISE Partners with Haven Candle Co.!
As a creative fundraiser for the month of May, Haven Candle Co. and the RISE Alumni Association collaborated to create a custom RISE candle, “Withness.” Haven Candle Co. is a locally owned and operated business by RISE’s very own Director of Operations, Brittany Burling!
Opening the Door to Second Chance Hiring in Nebraska
In 2021 the RISE Employment Program built a database of over 200 background friendly employers in Nebraska. The Employment Program also achieved an 89% employment rate amongst of released RISE graduates. By increasing employer relationships in Omaha, Lincoln and across the state, RISE established itself as one of the leaders in the Metro area for successfully navigating employment for the formerly incarcerated.
April is National Second Chance Month
The RISE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee invites you to recognize National Second Chance Month and Arab-American Heritage Month during April, as these events directly impact the population we serve and care about.
Help to Make Nebraska LB 920 a Reality!
Nebraska needs criminal justice reform now. Our prison system is in an overcrowding crisis and we have the opportunity to do something about it. We need your help to make LB920 a reality!
RISE Reentry: Please Don't Give Up on Me
During my weekly “letter time” where I close my office door to dive into mail received from our incarcerated people, a neatly written envelope with a pink letter folded inside caught my attention.
Scrolled at the top in cursive letters I read,“Please don’t give up on me.”