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.

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.

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

April is also National Volunteer Month. RISE would not be able to do this work without the care, support, and kindness of our volunteers. We have a special, trusting, and trustworthy group of volunteers.

Meet the RISE Staff! This week, meet Maeve Hemmer, RISE Community Navigator!

Meet the RISE Staff! This week, meet Charita Dailey, Director of Development

RISE provides "Welcome Home" bags to all RISE graduates who return home. Valued at over $100, each bag includes personal care items like body wash, shampoo, laundry detergent and towels. We all know how expensive a trip for essentials like this can be - lifting this one financial burden means a lot to us and the people we serve.

"I've been told that I've matured and have become more disciplined, I am not as quick to be angered, and I've become more educated because of this program and others.”

RISE is delighted to announce the generous gift of $10,000 from King of Kings Church in Omaha, Nebraska. The generosity of King of Kings will allow for RISE’s Community Navigation team to provide hygiene essential packs to RISE graduates returning home after incarceration.

RISE not only opened a reentry office in Lincoln last month but also moved from the second floor of the Blackstone Plaza to the fifth floor. September was…wild, chaotic, thrilling, sweaty, hard, beautiful, and joyful.

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.