Rise from
incarceration.
Coming home? Welcome back. We help you build a step-by-step plan toward an ID, a place to live, and steady work, and connect you with the resources to get there.
You do the work, and we walk beside you, cheering you on. We RISE by lifting others!
Where are you rising from?
Pick your path. Each one has its own verified directory and a clear checklist for your first 72 hours, 30 days, and 90 days.
Leaving incarcerationIncarceration
Welcome home. Your ID, a bed tonight, parole check-in, benefits, and employers who hire people with a record, all in the order that works.
Start hereAging out at 18Foster Care
Your future starts now. Housing, school, health coverage, money, and adults who stay, for everything the system stops providing the day you turn 18.
Start hereLeaving treatmentAddiction
Sober housing, meetings, medication, work, and a plan for day 30, when the structure ends and your new life really begins.
Start hereLeaving homelessness · RefugeesHomelessness
Shelter tonight, a home of your own next. Rapid rehousing, vouchers, resettlement agencies, and the paperwork that unlocks them.
Start hereLeaving domestic violenceDomestic Violence
You deserve to be safe. Confidential shelter, protective orders, legal aid, and support for your kids, with private browsing tips on every page.
Start hereLeaving traffickingHuman Trafficking
You deserve a life that's yours. Safe housing, legal status, counseling, income, and privacy, from vetted providers who understand what you've been through.
Start here
We RISE by lifting others!
We help people leave their hardest chapter behind and successfully enter society, with a plan, real resources and a community that believes in them.
You do the work, and you never do it alone. We walk with you: a mentor who believes in you, a plan for your first 72 hours, 30 days and 90 days, and the resources for each step.
They made it through. So can you.
Real people on the hardest stretch of their lives: what helped, what they wish they'd known, and where they are now.
Grab your phone and talk for a couple of minutes about what got you through. We only show a first name or nickname, and a person on our team watches every video before it goes up.
Record or upload a video- What was the hardest part, and what got you through it?
- What's one thing you wish someone had told you on day one?
- Who or what helped the most? A person, a program, a habit?
- Where are you now, and what are you proud of?
- What would you say to someone going through it right now?
The odds are stacked. Help changes them.
of people released from state prison are arrested again within 10 years
The full story →young people who aged out of foster care were homeless at least once by 26
The full story →of adults who ever had a drug or alcohol problem say they are in recovery or recovered
The full story →people were homeless in America on a single night in January 2025
The full story →women and 1 in 6 men have been hurt, sexually assaulted, or stalked by a partner
The full story →of trafficking survivors with a criminal record say the charges came from being trafficked
The full story →Your first 72 hours, in the right order.
Whatever door you just walked through, these four things come first. We show you the office, the hours, and what to bring.
Get your ID
Birth certificate, then Social Security card, then state ID. Go in that order, since each one helps you get the next.
Find a bed
A safe place to sleep tonight: shelter, sober house, or transitional bed, with open-bed status and intake rules.
Turn on benefits
SNAP, Medicaid, a low-cost phone, a bank account. Most take one visit if you bring the right paper.
Earn
Employers who believe in second chances, day labor, and trade programs that start this month, not next year.
Find it in your state.
Tap your state to see every listing we've found there, for all six programs. Brighter means more. Gray means we haven't gotten there yet; national lines work everywhere.
Call or text a person.
Say where you are and what you need. We'll text you the three places to go, with addresses and hours. No app, no account, 24 hours a day.
Do you help people start over? Let them find you.
If you run a shelter, clinic, food bank or program, we'd love to send people your way. Add your organization or claim the listing we already have, keep your hours up to date, and be there the moment someone reaches out. It's always free for nonprofits and public agencies.
Thank you for joining the RISEaid family
Every heart is a real person or partner who stepped up: a gift, an hour, a story, a RISE hat out in the world. Watch them light up across the country.
- Hat sightings
- Volunteers
- Mentors
- Donations
- Stories
- Milestones and graduates
- New resources
- RISE hat sighting, Layton, UT, October 2026
- Angela joined as a volunteer, Las Vegas, NV, October 2026
- David became a mentor, Salt Lake City, UT, October 2026
- Rachel donated to Foster Care, Denver, CO, October 2026
- Jasmine shared their story, Boise, ID, October 2026
- A RISING member in Utah reached a milestone, Utah, October 2026
- A recovery center joined as a resource partner, Phoenix, AZ, October 2026
- RISE hat sighting, Seattle, WA, October 2026
- Tasha joined as a volunteer, Atlanta, GA, October 2026
- Luis became a mentor, Dallas, TX, October 2026
- James donates monthly to Incarceration, Chicago, IL, October 2026
- Brandon shared their story, Nashville, TN, October 2026
We RISE by lifting others!