RISE seeks to break, through educational opportunity and mentoring, the intergenerational cycle of poverty, drug abuse, crime, incarceration and premature death that threatens the children of prisoners. This is accomplished through the provision of private/charter school education; one on one community based mentoring; tutoring and other academic support services; as well as summer camp opportunities. There are currently 124 RISE students enrolled in thirty schools throughout the state of Rhode Island.

RISE was founded by two members of the Brown University faculty, Drs. Flanigan and Vigilante, who were partners in caring for women with HIV and at-risk of contracting HIV, the majority of whom are incarcerated and have a history of substance abuse. Despite success in many domains, Flanigan and Vigilante felt for the most part that they were not changing the trajectory of these womens' lives. They decided to focus prevention efforts on the next generation.

Learn more about the volunteer opportunities at Rhode Islanders Sponsoring Education.  Be sure to let everyone know that the Volunteer Center of RI is helping you to find out about these great volunteer opportunities at www.vcri.org!