Building New Trust: Cycles Exist.

It has been just over a year since I joined the RISE team. One of my first events was a graduation at the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women (NCCW) in York, Nebraska. Tina *was one of the ladies in the class. She was a 30‑something, shy mama of two who was pitching a business idea for a food truck that offered coffee and sweet treats. Tina had spent nearly three years in the Department of Corrections. During that time, she successfully found sobriety, completed self‑betterment programs, and was determined to get home to her two children.[1]

When I met Tina that day, I could sense that her trust in me was low. I was new, but she knew that the RISE team wouldn’t bring someone to NCCW who wasn’t going to take care of business and take care of families. In a moment of nervousness, Tina asked me to connect with her son, Paul *.

Paul was a middle school student living with his father and step‑mother. He had experienced a significant loss when his mother went to prison. His life turned upside down, and Paul grew up too fast. He became a father figure and protector to his younger sister Reese *. Paul was also failing almost all of his seventh‑grade classes, had been suspended multiple times from school for fighting, and had experimented with drugs.

Tina and Paul’s father agreed to let Paul join the RISE Family Wellness Collective (FWC), a six‑themed 30‑week intensive program to support families through reentry from incarceration. Their hope was that Paul would find consistency and confidence and learn how to make wise decisions without impulsiveness and reactivity. Paul started with the FWC in March 2023. I could see he doubted that RISE would be a good thing, but he trusted and loved his mother so much that he joined and agreed to participate for her.

Over the past nine months, Tina has successfully transitioned to the Community Corrections Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. She has learned how to care for herself, ask for help, maintain sobriety, and advocate for her future. Her son, Paul, has learned so much of the same. He is getting As, Bs, or Cs in his classes and has not been suspended once since he started the FWC. More importantly, he has learned about his past traumas and how to begin healing from the hurt and loss so his future can be full of promise and hope.

Paul’s sister Reese has attended a handful of classes and recently came to a graduation for FWC with Paul, their grandmother, and their mom, Tina. Paul’s dad has even attended a few Alumni events with Paul to support the growth he has observed in his son. Even more incredible, I just found out Paul’s uncle, his father’s brother, graduated from RISE’s In‑Prison Program at the Reception and Treatment Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, in December of 2023.

I recently talked with Paul’s uncle, Rick *, about the whole family being part of the RISE family. Rick couldn’t believe his once unruly nephew, who was struggling with responsibility, loss, violence, gangs, and drugs, was now a responsible and hopeful young man who was living his life with purpose.[3]

During that conversation, I saw our mission to break generational cycles of incarceration live and in action. We are doing this with the help of our participants and their loved ones. The RISE Family Program has a mission to break generational cycles of incarceration one family at a time. For this family, we are honored and blessed to be a step on their path to a hopeful future.[2]