At 18, Les was homeless, jobless, and had very few personal belongings - he came to our office wearing his county-issued shower shoes. Les was and is...alone. He's 18. A kid. Alone.

Les was paired up with Jon, a RISE Case Manager, who began working compassionately to determine his greatest needs.

Like so many others, "Ben" didn't win this particular battle of addiction when he came home the first time. He served 2 more years back in prison. But his army, RISE and this community of ours - YOU - didn't stop having his back.

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.

“The blessing of taking RISE has given me just the littlest hope that there is life outside of lockup.”

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.

In February of 2022, RISE launched a pilot in-unit program at the Nebraska State Penitentiary where program participants live together in an intentional learning community while attending classes five days a week.

Andy is currently taking the Business Essentials portion of RISE's In Prison Program while finishing his time at a community corrections center. He's dyslexic and has never received assistance or treatment for his learning challenges.

In 2022 we held two RISE Business Academy (RBA) cohorts and one graduation with seven graduates. 11 of our 19 program graduates currently have their businesses in operation.

Dr. TJ Dickson became the Director of the RBA in July 2022. She facilitated Cohort 5 and graduated the largest cohort thus far.

The past two weeks at the legislature have been a whirlwind and it’s set to continue. With 812 legislative bills and 31 legislative resolutions/constitutional amendments introduced, the unicameral has its work cutout.

RISE founder and CEO, Jeremy Bouman, was invited to the unComfotable Conversations about Culture & Christianity podcast created by Christ Community Church.

RISE received iPads from the Bellevue Papillion Rotary Club in September as a means of case management support in the field. The flexible use and portability is essential to RISE Reentry Specialists as they work one-on-one with program participants navigating their reentry post-incarceration.

Throughout the six- month long RISE class, both participants, facilitators, and RISE staff saw a visible change in Rosa's mindset.

Before her opportunity to graduate the RISE In-Prison Program, Jen was moved to a different facility, the Community Correctional Center in Lincoln (often called work release). That didn’t stop her.

The first in-unit cohort of the RISE In-Prison Program at the Nebraska State Penitentiary continues to be progressing well. This is a group of men living in an intentional learning community and going to class together.

At RISE, our mission is to end the generational cycles of incarceration. Our mission comes to fruition in a variety of ways.

Every decision we make at RISE, big and small, starts with this simple question. This is our North Star in everything we do.

“What do you need?”

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 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.

Links to help!

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.”