The Rise Family Support Center

The Rise Family Support Center

The Rise Family Support Center is a new safe and welcoming space where families can come together and access resources as well as strategize to push for system-level change. The center supports and partners with families at every stage of life, bringing them together in community to make plans, receive support, and fix things together using principles of community organizing. 

All the programs at the center share a common grounding in the SHARP Framework, working with families to facilitate and support them in claiming power and building common understanding.  For social work practitioners, the center moves the dynamic from a transactional social work approach to a transformational one. 

My experience at Rise has been life-changing,” said parent Brittany Brinkley. “They give me and my child support and comfortability along with a safe place to come that is similar to home. The staff are so helpful as well as the other moms. This has been a great space for my mental health as they have helped me see the better in what is to come. This is the place I can bring my child to and know that she is in good hands.

Early Childhood Development

The State of Maryland Strategic Educational Plan mandates family support centers to prepare children to enter schools through early childhood, prenatal, and kindergarten programs. Children who go to preschool do better in school, and the center partners with families so that their children are ready to learn.  The center provides families with the tools they need to be engaged and advocate for their children when they get to school. Schools are ready to welcome families from the center, and families are ready to enter the school system successfully when the time comes. Getting the whole family ready for the child’s education is a primary goal. 

Community Connection and Collaboration

The Rise Center is a welcoming hub housing multiple programs under one roof, including B’More For Healthy Babies and Family Connections Baltimore.  A new community partner: Maryland CASH, now offers financial support to participants.  Families can gather to overcome systemic obstacles as they get their day-to-day needs met. Staff work with parents and caregivers to assess their needs and refer them for services throughout the community.  

Resources and Accessibility

There is food, space to connect and learn, places for rest and respite care, and spaces to identify common social barriers to overcome together. The center is both embedded in the community it serves and available to people from all across Baltimore. It enables staff to be more responsive to the community’s power. 

Connect with the Rise Family Support Center

There are multiple ways you can connect with and support the Rise Family Support Center. 

  1. For more information or to schedule a visit, contact Rise’s director, Tyrone Roper at tyrone.roper@ssw.umaryland.edu.
  2. Make a monetary donation to the Family Support Center.
  3. Donate items from our Amazon Wishlist.    

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