I hope this letter finds you well. As you know, each spring I write a President’s Letter to bring you up to date on what is going on at RISE. This is not a solicitation but rather my way of staying in direct contact and sharing my thoughts with you.
Since I last wrote to you another class of RISE students has graduated from high school. They were accepted to colleges like: Salve Regina, Tufts, Boston College, Northeastern, University of Rhode Island, Dean College, Providence College and George Washington College. Like RISE students before them they are almost always the first person in their family to attend college. We could not be prouder of their achievements.
2018 was a big year – as you may know, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of RISE. It’s hard to believe. I remember when RISE was just an idea and we wondered whether anyone would sponsor a quality education for a child they never met. Tim Flanigan, Kristen Haffenreffer, and I hoped that we would be able to recruit 5 or 6 financial sponsors that first year. To our amazement 23 incredibly generous people came forward to sponsor 23 children of incarcerated parents. Many others stepped up to serve as mentors. Now, 20 years later, over 1,000 at risk children have become part of the RISE family and benefitted from the RISE mentors and sponsors. Despite long odds our kids have a high school graduation rate of over 80%. Similar children of incarcerated parents have about a 55% graduation rate. RISE is the longest running and most successful program of its kind serving children of incarcerated parents.
I am incredibly grateful to you and all the RISE supporters who made this success possible. It’s an extraordinary achievement and you should be very proud of what you have accomplished.
But as we celebrate this milestone, we should also remember the children we lost. One of them was Richard who was in our very first class of 23 kids. He lived in a chaotic household and was surrounded by dysfunction and violence. When he didn’t show up at school Kristen, our Executive Director, would be at his door, sometimes rousing him out of bed to get to class. Tragically Richard was killed by stabbing in 2018. It is a constant reminder of the fragility and vulnerability of these young lives.
The young people we serve grow up in dangerous communities cut off from the opportunities that you and I, and our children, have had. Some, like Richard, are even denied the opportunity to see adulthood. This tale of two Americas remains our greatest injustice and it is something that RISE is committed to fight.
We still believe that the best way to change the tale of two Americas is to enable all children to go to high quality schools. Education remains the “last best hope” for all children to participate in the American dream. There are many things that threaten these children: grinding poverty, broken families, the dangers of the street, and the seduction of drugs. We can’t rebuild families or change neighborhoods overnight – but we can provide access to high quality, life changing schools. It is our hope that children who receive a RISE sponsored education will be able escape these neighborhoods to give their children a better life. We hope that for these children we will break the cycle of poverty that has been so recalcitrant in the tragic version of America.
Over the last 20 years I have heard many young people tell us how RISE has changed their lives, has “broken the cycle”, and made the hopeful version of America a possibility. I am always moved. Recently Nadia shared her story:
“I can honestly say that without the support from RISE I wouldn’t be where I am today. I became a RISE student in elementary school. My father went to prison multiple times growing up and the only stability I had was my school. I graduated from college with a double major in psychology and sociology in 2016. My father went back to prison my freshman year of college, one of my brothers was sentenced with life that year and the other a double life sentence the following year. I felt like my world had been crushed for the 50th time, except it wasn’t. My foundation of support has molded me into the person I am today. My first mentor came from RISE, my first tutor and my first job. RISE has literally helped me RISE, over and over. Thank you RISE! Love, Nadia.”
You should feel proud of what you have done for children like Nadia. Without you her journey would not have been possible. You are part of the RISE family just like these children, their care givers, and their teachers. Perhaps you have been with RISE from the early days, or maybe you are new to the organization. Perhaps you left for a while and came back. Whatever your journey with RISE has been, I am incredibly grateful for all you have done and congratulate you on our first 20 years of changing lives.
This fall a new crop of RISE children, all children of incarcerated parents, will embark on the journey of hope and opportunity that the RISE community provides. Each child will have a mentor to guide him or her, and a sponsor (or a team of sponsors) that pays approximately $4,000 a year for tuition support. Others give as they can to help support books, tutoring, SAT prep, college visits and the mentoring program. All of this support comes from people like you who, very often, have never met the child they support. At a time when some wonder if the American dream is still alive – especially for urban minority communities – we see it reborn every fall at RISE.
On behalf of all the children we serve, thank you for keeping the dream alive. I hope you will stay on the journey with RISE, and our children, for the next 20 years.
Thank You,
Kevin
