A few years ago, I was invited to attend an event sponsored by an organization called RISE (www.seeusRise.org). It was a Re-entry Simulation, where for the next three hours, it was assumed I was being released from a Nebraska prison after serving a long sentence and had to assimilate back into society. It was the most chaotic, frustrating and heart-wrenching three hours I had spent in a long time! As we de-briefed the event with people who had lived and experienced this in their real lives, my eyes were opened! I had no idea. And I wanted to get involved and help! Two years later, I’ve had the opportunity to roll up my sleeves by serving on the Board of Directors of RISE. This organization is the largest nonprofit in Nebraska focused solely on habilitative programming in prisons and reentry support. At RISE, transformation starts pre-release and continues post-release. Our inside/out model bridges incarceration to the community and considers all the critical steps in that journey. We prepare and train people for each phase through intensive character development, employment readiness, job creation through entrepreneurship, family programming and case management. We transform people in the community by building awareness and empathy that leads to support and opportunity. These connections heal families, create employment pathways and lower recidivism. The proof our program works is in the numbers: Recidivism rates average over 30% for all persons released from our prison system. If they participate in the RISE re-entry program, that 30% shrinks to .3%!! Please consider supporting this important cause!