News And Events

Rise Parent Leaders Present Reform Recommendations at CUNY Law Symposium on Family Court

Four parent leaders from Rise presented parents’ perspectives on facing New York City Family Courts at the CUNY Law School symposium “Reimagining Family Defense” on April 8. Drawing on interviews with dozens of parents with current child welfare cases and stories published in Rise’s parent-written magazine over the past 10 years, Piazadora Footman, Robbyne Wiley, Bevanjae Kelley and Nancy Fortunato described common themes in parents’ experiences facing the court and gave recommendations for reform.

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‘With Every Story I Write, I Learn More About What It Takes to Be Me’

My introduction to Rise was through the writing workshop at the Child Welfare Organizing Project. When I started, I was writing just to write. Then I found that writing was a way to gain insight into my life.

I never knew that writing words on paper would open up so many old wounds.

The first thing I discovered was that I’d suppressed a lot of what happened in my life. I remembered things my mother … Read More

The Moth Partners with Rise to Build Storytelling Skills and Confidence

In January, Rise partnered with The Moth on a workshop where 8 parents leaders learned to tell a story aloud – without notes!

The Moth workshop was part of our new public speaking training program, Rise & Shine, to support our parent leaders in becoming more skilled and confident while telling their stories for an audience.

In the past two years, Rise parent leaders have increasingly presented their stories and recommendations for child welfare reform to top policymakers. In … Read More

Rise Releases 2015 Annual Report

Rise had an outstanding year in 2015! We celebrated our 10th anniversary–and doubled our budget. So many of you contributed to our success. Thank you.

Some highlights:

* Our parent leaders presented to 500 professionals in November, including Congressional staff, Bronx and Manhattan Family Court, ACS attorneys and new child protective staff.

* We ran our first writing workshop at a foster care agency, Graham Windham, as well as a workshop for frontline staff to reflect on their work … Read More

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