RISE moves beyond typical legal services as we recognize that traditional approaches often replicate harmful hierarchies and inequality. We offer legal strategy and resources from attorneys, advocates, and deeply experienced community members. Our model inspires a shift in criminal legal defense work - from transactional to relational. Using a community defense model- as many people of color have done for centuries- We do not merely “center” the people we work with, we collaborate with them, by ensuring that their legal team includes systems impacted folks and that our members are educated and informed about the legal processes they are navigating.

RISE understands that unless we also work to heal the trauma caused by incarceration and state violence - as well as actively dismantle those systems and replace them with life-giving alternatives - we will never actually be free. While people can walk out of those crushing prison gates, we need more than mere physical freedom to thrive.

Our advocacy and support does not end after a loved one’s release from prison. RISE also cultivates a community of support to come home to. We stand with our members through the myriad struggles of fighting against the criminal legal system and upon their transition back into society from incarceration. Through mentorship with and by similarly situated community members, folks returning home can build the tools, skills and networks necessary to step into advocacy roles and support other incarcerated loved ones in their journeys towards freedom.

RISE Collective cultivates and bridges connections with experts and experiences to teach our community about laws, policies, and systems. Our bi-weekly meetings are intentional to provide space for restorative practices and spread knowledge and power to the people who have been told they have none. It is our practice to empower the collective to demand quality legal representation, speak to state actors and elected officials, and have a toolbox of information that can be used to advocate for their loved ones. This transfers to their loved ones behind prison walls to know that they are never forgotten and are just as powerful to participate in their fight for freedom