RISE Youth + Family Program
On Friday evenings at RISE, you'll find our Family Program family sharing a meal around a large dinner table. Picture about 20 of us laughing, joking, chatting, and sometimes even crying. It's not much different from the animated family dinners I've experienced at my own family reunions.
There's the crazy uncle telling all the dad jokes while the teenagers roll their eyes and giggle. There's the one strict aunt trying to maintain order (that might be me). Then there's the sweet grandma who has mellowed since raising her own children, saying, “Oh, just let them play,” as the younger kids run around playing a superhero game they just made up in the hallway.
THAT'S US. WE ARE A FAMILY. WE COME AS WE ARE – BROKEN, SCARRED, WOUNDED – AND SEEKING TO BE HEALED, LOVED, AND SEEN.
Our family expanded threefold this year as we introduced the Family Wellness Collective in the Lincoln area. We celebrated our first Lincoln graduation, honoring four graduates who completed the nine‑month reentry program. Eight others are just a book or two away from their own celebrations. We also formed a partnership with the Patrick J. Thomas Juvenile Justice Center (JJC) in Sarpy County. Through Family Wellness Collective workshops, we brought character development and creative expression to the youth housed at JC. The workshops were so well‑received that staff invited our team to extend them to the alternative school and day reporting center. This year, we welcomed nearly 100 youth from Sarpy County into the RISE Family Program. [1][2][3]
Another exciting addition was our cohort at the Nebraska Correctional Youth Facility (NCYF). At NCYF, five RISE Builders serve as peer supporters for the youth. We connected with these RISE graduates to pilot a Family Wellness Collective group aimed at fostering healthy community and support for youth beginning their sentences.
By the end of December, one young man will have completed the six workshop sessions. Three of these young men, who began with us in summer 2024, have since transferred to Community Corrections Omaha and will join our Friday night dinners and classes in January. The Assistant Warden has invited the Family Program to return in 2025 to deliver the entire curriculum.
Men’s Wellness Series
In Omaha, we launched a Men’s Wellness Series led by Randall Robbins, our Family Program Associate. This series creates a space for raw, real, and necessary discussions to promote healing, safety, security, and belonging. Randall has fostered a community where any man impacted by incarceration can connect with others who “get it.”
Celebrating Life Together
This year, we celebrated milestones big and small—marriages, new babies, children reunited with parents after parole, first homes, first cars, graduations, baptisms, anniversaries, and more. At the same time, we mourned together, sharing in the grief of losing family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors.
Through the highs and lows, we stood by one another. That’s what family is for. The RISE family keeps growing. We may not be perfect, but we are real. You can count on us for tough love and steadfast support when it’s needed most. While we can’t solve every problem or offer the perfect resource every time, we’ll be there to listen and share your space—if you’ll let us.
