“I am an abuse survivor.” Keith is reading the words written on the picture of a blank face off the crumbled up piece of paper he just picked up off the floor.

21 men are sitting in a circle in the big room at Sozo Coffeehouse in downtown Omaha where Randall leads a monthly men’s wellness coffee.

Congratulations to the first cohort of the RISE Leadership Academy!

Through our partnership with Southeast Community College, participants who complete the RISE program can now receive 3 credit hours for the course ENTR1050: Introduction to Entrepreneurship.

Background barriers to employment, whether direct or indirect, can significantly impact an individual's ability to secure and maintain a job.

Nebraska’s voting rights for people with felony convictions is a success.

RISE is honored to be awarded an Impact Grant from FNBO supporting workforce development for formerly incarcerated individuals in Nebraska.

Union Pacific in Omaha, Nebraska hosts a RISE Reentry Simulation.

“The RISE reentry simulation was an incredibly impactful event for our team. It built a profound awareness of the challenges that justice-impacted individuals face, an awareness that I am confident our team will carry with them for many years to come.”

While reentry can never be fully understood without personal lived experience, creating a learning experience can, at the very least, encourage empathy and avenue for change.

Thousands of people who are incarcerated in Nebraska’s county jails will have access to voting rights information this week thanks to a mass mailing organized by the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska and reentry organization RISE. Educational pamphlets produced by the organizations began arriving at the jails yesterday.

"This is one part of getting my humanity back." - Jason Kotas

On Wednesday, October 16th, 2024, the Nebraska Supreme Court restored LB20 and says people who have completed their felony convictions MUST be allowed to register and vote.

AS OF TODAY, Wednesday, October16th, 2024, the Nebraska Supreme Court says voters with past felonies MUST be allowed to vote!

LB20, passed in April, was not new and not radical. It represented 8 years of advocacy and resilience to change the hearts and minds of legislators across Nebraska. We know Nebraskans believe in second chances. We stand with those affected and will keep advocating and working to make change.

Christ Community Church hosted RISE CEO and founder of RISE, Jeremy Bouman; Community Navigator, Aaron Pettes; and Volunteer Relations Manager, Chantal Wentz on Sunday, July 28th for their Ordinary People, Extraordinary God series.

RISE is a re-entry program with a mission to help people both inside and outside prison get back on their feet.

"We're helping them with housing, employment, healthy relationships, building a healthy peer community of others who are navigating carceral systems and coming home," said Jeremy Bouman, CEO of RISE.

“The Attorney General's opinion and the Secretary of State's announcement - made public less than 48 hours before a law to remedy this is to take effect -

unnecessarily introduces more uncertainty, delay and complication.”

On June 11th, 2024 the 9th RISE Cohort at the Omaha Correctional Center pitched their business ideas and graduated!