2025 Annual Appeal

Dear friend of Worcester RISE for Health

We would like to share a story with you—one that YOUR support helped make possible. It’s a story about a new beginning.

TJ, originally from Haiti, arrived in Massachusetts pregnant and fleeing persecution. Just one week after giving birth, her family told her they had no room for her and her newborn, leaving her on the street. Feeling terrified and alone, she confided in RISE’s Haitian-Creole speaking Maternal Child Health Community Health Worker, Sandela.

Our team immediately mobilized. Sandela interpreted and supported her, while our Ubuntu Program helped file emergency shelter documents. We worked with partners to secure hotel vouchers so TJ and her baby had a safe place to sleep, spending their days at RISE as we navigated the shelter system. After three days of nonstop advocacy, we secured a shelter placement with a partner agency.

But our support didn’t end there. We enrolled her and her baby in health insurance, connected them to on-site primary care, and supported her through behavioral health services. She joined our baby-parent group, a vital part of our Maternal and Child Health Program. We also engaged immigration attorney partners to ensure her longterm safety.

Today, TJ and her baby are safe, housed, receiving continuous care, building community, and working toward a new future.

With YOUR help, we can remain a source of hope for recently arrived refugees and immigrants. Your support allows us to provide essential services—multilingual community health, doula and behavioral health care, primary care, immigration assistance, and community education—all vital to helping families navigate immense distress and build a better future.

If you can, please consider making a gift today to help us continue this life-changing work. As so many families like TJ struggle with a myriad of challenges, our goal is to raise additional $50,000 for our Ubuntu program. These funds will increase our capacity to provide social support, linkages to basic needs and mental health.

Thank you for being part of our community and for making stories like TJ’s possible.