Editor's note: This story is part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave's On the Ground Battle Creek series.

BATTLE CREEK, MI — A $250,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation will enable the growth of a local nonprofit focused on serving financially challenged youth in Battle Creek.

R.I.S.E. (Restore. Inspire. Support. Empower) Corp. leadership announced they received the grant in a press release distributed on April 9. “It’s a game changer for us for sure,” says Jacqueline James, Vice President of R.I.S.E., which was founded in 2017.

She says that the 18-month unrestricted grant will be used to build capacity.

“A lot of the time with grassroots organizations like ours, you’re so busy keeping the lights on and staying afloat that you don’t have the financial resources to look at expansion of services and programs,” James says. “This (grant) will allow us to stabilize and move forward in the work we do. We can take a pause and look at what really needs to be done to serve and grow and serve our population in our community.”

R.I.S.E. works on advancing health equity; dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline; supporting trauma-informed recovery; and creating sustainable solutions through community-based leadership, according to the press release.

Jane ParikhDamon Brown, Founder and CEO of R.I.S.E. Corp., at left, poses with Jacqueline James Patrick, Director of R.I.S.E.'s Student Empowerment Program and Board Treasurer, and Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson, President and CEO of the Children's Defense Fund, at a “This grant marks a major milestone for our organization and for the Battle Creek community,” says Damon Brown, President and Founder of R.I.S.E. “It provides the resources needed to grow our team, strengthen our partnerships, and deliver deeper impact through prevention, diversion, and intervention strategies that save lives and change futures.”

He says the WKKF grant will be used for the following:
 

• Expand its violence interruption model, including the successful Ring Doorbell public safety initiative
• Support youth through in-school social-emotional learning programs and out-of-school leadership development
• Launch new workforce development and mentorship opportunities for both youth and adults
• Invest in data systems and technology to enhance decision-making and community responsiveness

R.I.S.E.’s work is concentrated in areas of the city populated by low-income BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color), specifically African Americans, James says. 

“We target Washington Heights, the east side, and Post Franklin, which are high poverty, high needs areas,” she says. “We do a lot of things, like basic needs support that the general public might not even know about.”

This includes emergency food assistance, a monthly food distribution program, temporary housing for someone who finds themselves unhoused for one or two days, assistance with utility bill payments, and funeral expenses for families who have lost a loved one to murder.

Jane ParikhDamon Brown, President and CEO of R.I.S.E. Corp, stands with Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson, President and CEO of the Children's Defense FundCurrently, Brown and James are the nonprofit’s only full-time staff. They are assisted by part-time program staff that ranges anywhere between 5 and 19 people, depending on the program, and a team of volunteers.

Volunteers assist with the food distribution program, summer programming for youth, and out-of-school programs, James says. The youth-focused programs have between 150 and 200 participants annually.

“Our most popular programs are the out-of-school programs, like our Freedom School,” she says. “That’s where we’ve really established a stronghold in the community.”

James says the organization’s board members will review R.I.S.E.’s needs and take a strategic approach when looking at moving forward with the use of the grant.

Brown says this funding will allow R.I.S.E. to build organizational capacity, improve internal systems, expand community engagement, and scale its three-tiered approach to violence interruption, workforce development, and youth empowerment.

“We are grateful to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for believing in our work and standing beside us in our commitment to equity, safety, and opportunity for every child and family,” Brown says.

“They’re very necessary,” James says of the programming and services offered by R.I.S.E. “We provide a safe and supervised space which allows our young people to grow academically. We need to help build our economic system through workforce development so our youth can graduate to take on these different jobs. They’re resupplying our community. This helps to produce a strong community and world.”