Rise writing workshop graduates Lindsay Reilly, Adisha Garner, Latoya Fitzgerald and Rebecca Mohammed, pictured here with Rise’s Nora McCarthy and Graham Windham’s Jess Dannhauser and Peggy Gibbs, presented their stories to family members and Graham staff March 20, 2015. Not pictured is graduate Lakisha Johnson. Parents in this 16-week workshop wrote stories examining the challenges–and their strengths–in keeping up hope while their children are in foster care.
Rise Writers Piazadora Footman and Latoya Fitzgerald presented parents’ perspectives on the foster care and court process to lawyers at the Center for Family Representation on Feb. 12, 2015. In this half-day training, Pia and Toya answered questions about their experiences, Rise Director Nora McCarthy described Rise’s resources, and Rise brainstormed with CFR staff about using parent stories more frequently as a tool for educating and engaging parents.
When Rise first came out in 2005, I was the Commissioner for the NYC Administration for Children’s Services and I ordered 1,000 copies for the agency. I wanted to make sure that as many of our staff as possible began to be aware of—or grew even more aware of—parents’ perspectives on the work that they do.
Rise helped deepen and broaden my understanding of the experiences of parents in the child welfare system. It broadened my … Read More
One night I was searching the internet for help. My son was about to be released to me from foster care. I never had someone to talk to or to advocate for me while I was dealing with the foster care system. I finally came across Rise magazine at 4 in the morning.
It felt good to know that there were other people going through what I went through. A mother who loses her kids … Read More
I run a nonprofit law firm, Dependency Legal Services, that represents parents and children in child welfare cases in six Northern California counties. I first came across Rise at the American Bar Association conference for parent attorneys.
In a variety of ways, Rise is the right tool for the job.
One thing we are all learning about child welfare is that one of the biggest problems parents deal with is isolation. When I have a … Read More
