THE RISING
Elevating Education, Expectations and Self- Esteem
Our national group-mentoring RISING program builds a critical, positive consciousness in our young, fostering their desire and ability to change their contexts and communities. Our 32-week interactive curriculum addresses the complex issues impacting our youth on the margins. It shines the light on their innate intelligence as our program facilitators and mentors carefully guide them, with sensitivity and established trust, to those secret places where pain bridles hope.
THE RISING’s culturally sensitive curriculum supports youth struggling in poverty in creating the bright futures they are longing for and deserve. With devoted local community partners, The RISING buttresses any extremely vulnerable youth and their families with vital wrap-around services and support. Our consciousness-shifting program is currently implemented at a range of public schools and juvenile detention centers.
THE RISING is embedded at middle schools, high schools, and juvenile detention centers across nine cities: Chicago, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, Seattle, Oakland, and Sacramento.
THE RISING’s curriculum is rooted in prevention and provides principles, practices, and coping mechanisms designed to provide young people with the tools that they need to become successful adults. Working hand-in-hand with school administrators, educators, and parents, THE RISING instills in our youth a deep sense of racial pride, self-worth, confidence, and hope for the future. The healing-centered model engages communities and surrounds young people with caring adults. Our goal is that our youth are fortified, able to overcome societal obstacles, and fulfill their potential.
THE RISING consists of two key elements: large-group auditorium sessions and Wellness Mentoring Circles. The auditorium sessions cover a wide range of topics and have a strong focus on workforce readiness. Wellness Mentoring Circles are single gender-identified healing sessions facilitated by trained professionals and supported by mentors. Young people work closely with our psychologists and mentors to heal traumas so they are emotionally healthy and able to succeed socially, academically, and in life. While our focus is on Black youth and mentors, National CARES turns away no child in need or qualified adult, and our programs are easily adapted to other cultural contexts.
Rising check-in with the Scholars
OUR PROGRAMS
Recognizing that the traditional one-to-one mentoring model will never reach the multitudes of young people who need a mentor, we designed THE RISINGS, two group-mentoring models:
THE RISING: Programming for Youth
A program that supports the development and healing of middle and high school students both in school and community settings.
THE RISINGS propel young people impeded by poverty to rise above their current circumstances by recognizing their inherent worth and embracing their innate power to soar. Additionally, to ensure that children have caring and flourishing adults in their lives, we created programming to fortify and bolster parents, caregivers and community members:
COMMUNITY WELLNESS MENTORING CIRCLES
Healing-centered community gatherings that are guided by our wellness protocols and reinforce our culturally anchored trainings. The program is offered to adults by our 58 U.S. affiliates with the goal of supporting our communities to rebuild their villages.
Our curriculum-based, group-mentoring and training initiatives are built to support the multitudes of children in need and provide access to a wide constellation of culturally competent and healing-centered supportive services to families and communities, delivered by our growing number of partner organizations.
The goal is to replicate nationally each component of this blueprint for community recovery—THE RISINGS and COMMUNITY WELLNESS MENTORING CIRCLES—across our 58 local Affiliate cities, network, and beyond.
Rising small group discussion with the Scholars
