So Rise Community Services.

We support individuals with intellectual, developmental, physical disabilities.

A wide range of disabilities.

Really stands for respecting individual skills and efforts.

So within that, ideally we, you know, we strive to meet the needs of our individuals throughout the county that if you think of work, play and live, we really support everyone in that aspect.

So in their workplace, we support them to be successful in their home.

We help them maintain their living and in the community we help them access those things that they want to enjoy a quality life.

We have this vocational center, then down the street, we have our Rights Center for Growth.

So that's our day program, folks.

The day program individuals are working on social skills.

They do a lot of volunteering in the community.

They may have some days that they work here and they may have some days that they .. just volunteering in the community, but they're building those skills to hopefully be employed here or within the community.

And so that creates an opportunity for the community, come in and engage with our associates, buy products, invest in the growth and development of the skills of individuals.

Some of our folks, like here at the Vocational Center or Rise Racks or our mobile work crew, they do work for Rise, but the ultimate goal is that they're building their their skills, their competency, their confidence so that they can build their, you know, their resume to then apply for those positions within the competitive employment world.

Because ideally, you know, experience is much more valuable sometimes than being in the classroom.

However, we do provide that skills, training and things of that nature, but they work here with the idea that they will then get employment in the competitive world.

So ideally the goal is that we don't need to be there 24/7.

So we are considered a sheltered workshop through Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

And for years this facility has been kind of the only gateway, the only employment opportunity for individuals coming out of high school.

This is a great option, obviously, because it helps build some skills.

They do get paid and so it's also a partnership with our contractors and it's cost saving for them and it's also meaningful employment for individuals.

The goal is that all of our folks here at the vocational center obtain employment outside of here.

It's just a stepping stone.

And even in the community, it's helping them interact in the community and ensure that, you know, they are not being take advantage of or they have the appropriate social skills to be successful in the community.

So our staff here at Rise, their main focus is is sup.. whether it's employment, whether it's our day program going out in the community within the home.

They they know our individuals very well.

And through a support plan they can identify what level of support they need to provide to each person.

So just building their independence every day.

So here at the vocational center, the the different types of jobs would be in the manufacture rink.

So we do production of t shirts, we do products for..

So anything that might be inter cis next door, they do batteries and so we have different components that we put toget.. We also build street sweeper blades for, you know, rotary.

So different types of brooms.

We also build black box for a plane, but they're orange boxes for train.

So we build the outside component of the box that goes in the trains and then they're shipped back to the the supplier.

That then obviously puts all the wiring things in.

We do a variety of things, but that would probably be the biggest jobs that we have.

Our cafe is another great resource for people to .. You know, we really strive to, like I said, expose and our employees and our individuals to a multitude of opportunities and not necessarily is it that they want to work in retail or in the restaurant business, but there's a lot of skills that can be developed just by being in that atmosphere.

And then years ago, when we first started doing some some crafting, we this is when we did some recycling in .. we pulled one of our individuals up and just kind of said, hey, you know, we want you to to paint a picture.

We're going to sell it in a in our our new store.

And what we found was that she was a phenomenal artist.

And then working in our store, she was very shy, did not want to answer the phones.

And over a course of a couple of years, she then with somebody that we could call on to come fill in at the front and answer the phones.

So, you know, it was a lot of patience and, you know, skills and and telling them that they can do it.

She's been very, very successful.

And is actually one of our leads here at the vocational center.

Funding is always a concern is because to support the providers that are p.. these supports to help people be independent within their work and their community is probably one of the biggest hurdles for the overall disability so that we can maintain and sustain the services that we currently have and to grow.

I guess if I had to say one thing, it's, you know, rise.

We really are a family.

So, you know, when you think of your own family that you really look out for their best interest and you want what's best for them.

And here at Rice, we are all a family.

So we're looking out for each other, whether that's the individuals we serve, the families or just even each other as a staff.

So we want to see everyone meet their their highest potential, whatever that takes, whether it's creating opportunities or training.

And we really strive to be each other's cheerleaders.