Coming home
is just the beginning.
We're Nebraska's largest nonprofit working inside prisons and alongside people after release. Across seven state facilities, our team teaches a character development and job-readiness curriculum to people preparing to come home. Then we keep showing up after release, with case management, employment support, housing navigation, family programming, and business coaching.
Nebraska runs one of the most overcrowded prison systems in the country. Roughly 3,800 people return to Nebraska communities every year, and without consistent reentry support, about a third end up back inside. We're working to change that.
Our Mission
We exist to break the cycle of incarceration by walking with people before, during, and long after they come home.
When our graduates come home, we're still there. We help with case management, employment, housing referrals, family programming, and business incubation for as long as people need us.
Our work is built on a simple belief: people are not their worst decision. With the right support, people coming home build lives they choose.
Our approach
Change that lasts
takes more than a moment.
RISE follows a continuum-of-care model. We meet people inside Nebraska prisons, walk with them through reentry, and support the families they're coming home to. The same idea runs through everything we do: change that holds requires showing up long before release and long after it.
In-Prison Program
A nine-month, cohort-based program inside Nebraska Department of Corrections facilities. Participants work through a structured curriculum on character, communication, financial literacy, and job-readiness, taught by RISE staff alongside volunteer coaches from the Nebraska community. Cohorts meet weekly. By graduation, participants have a release plan in hand and a direct line into our reentry services on the outside.
Youth + Family Program
Incarceration affects everyone in the household. Our Youth + Family Program creates community and support for the parents, partners, and children waiting on the outside. We host peer groups, youth programming, and family events that help relationships stay intact during incarceration and grow stronger after release. Strong families are one of the most reliable predictors of successful reentry, and we build the conditions for them to thrive.
Reentry Services
The work doesn't stop at the gate. Our reentry team starts planning with each participant months before release. We help secure identification, line up housing referrals, and make introductions to employers. Every participant is paired with a case manager who stays with them long after their first day home, alongside mentorship matching, employment readiness coaching, and connections to community resources across Nebraska.
Employment Program
A job offer is the difference between a plan that works and one that falls apart. We partner with Nebraska employers across construction, manufacturing, hospitality, logistics, and the trades to open hiring pipelines for people with records. We coach our graduates through interviews, onboarding, and the harder months that follow, so that a record becomes something employers can work with and a job becomes a career.
RISE Business Academy
An entrepreneurship incubator for graduates with a business idea and the drive to build it. Participants work through a structured curriculum on business planning, financial modeling, marketing, and operations. The program ends with a pitch to a panel of real Nebraska investors. Graduates leave with a working business plan, real capital pathways, and a network of mentors in the Nebraska business community.
Policy & Advocacy
We work alongside system-impacted Nebraskans to change the laws and practices that keep the cycle of incarceration in motion. Our advocacy covers sentencing reform, occupational licensing barriers, and the policies that decide who gets a fair shot after release. The work is led by people with direct experience of the system, because they know best what needs to change.
why nebraska?
A statewide crisis that's been waiting for a real answer.
Nebraska's prison system has been among the most overcrowded in the country for over a decade. RISE was built for this moment — and the work is just beginning.
~3,800
Released Each Year
Roughly 3,800 Nebraskans return to their communities every year and need a path forward.
1 in 3
Return Without Support
Without consistent reentry support, roughly one in three return to prison within three years.
150%+
Operating Capacity
Nebraska's prisons have operated above design capacity for years, among the most overcrowded in the nation.
Get Involved
Your gift funds the In-Prison Program, Welcome Home Bags, reentry support, the Youth + Family Program, and the RISE Business Academy — across Nebraska facilities. Every dollar moves a participant closer to a different future, and our communities closer to a safer one.
