Thanks to you, every one of the children supported by our Preventive Services program had a backpack filled with school supplies to start the new school year right. We collected 300 backpacks and a mountain of notebooks, binders, pencils, crayons, rulers, glue stocks, and erasers. Children shouted with glee when they picked out their backpacks at our August 23rd Back-to-School Barbecue as parents and guardians looked on with pride.

“Many families in our Preventive Services program cannot afford to buy approximately $100 worth of school supplies for each of their children,” said Jack Toone, who managed this year’s backpack drive at Rising Ground. “It lifts a weight off their shoulders to know that their children have supplies to do their work and retain what they learn in school.”

A special thanks to Morgan Stanley, Banana Republic, Bob’s Discount Furniture, and the many other businesses and individuals who donated time and resources to support our drive.

Rising Ground’s Preventive Services stabilizes families at risk of losing custody of their children. Our therapists work with families in their home to identify and overcome challenges, such as substance abuse, inadequate food and housing, unemployment, negative family dynamics, and other obstacles that threaten the family unit. Our services help families acquire the tools, skills, and supports they need to nurture and raise their children in a safe and secure home.

Only 10% of Foster Children Go to College. Well, We’ve Got Six!

Nationwide, only 10% of foster children go to college, and merely 3% graduate. So, we are thrilled that six of our foster kids are entering college this fall!

Friends of Rising Ground may remember one of our college-bound youth, Sohel. He spoke of his remarkable journey at our 2015 Gala.

At the age of 14, Sohel was left on his own, on a city street, after arriving in the U.S. from Bangladesh. Rising Ground found him a loving foster home and helped him enroll in a preparatory school for English learners, where he became a star student. Now, he’s received a full scholarship to attend St. Lawrence University this fall.

And Sohel’s story gets better!  He’s soon to be adopted by his foster dad. Now that’s what we call great news!

Sohel’s journey proves that with the right supports, vulnerable children can rise above adversity and achieve great things.

Nikolas has another good story to tell.

Nicholas was the featured speaker at our Spring Benefit. At 14, Nikolas and his siblings were placed in foster care. He thought it would just be living in a stranger’s home, isolated and alone. But he discovered that wasn’t the case.

“You get a Case Worker who talks with you, stays with you, is there by your side. They really help you out, right from the start,” Nikolas says.

Now a high school senior, Nikolas has accepted a $40,000 scholarship to attend SUNY-Fredonia in the fall—a laudable achievement, particularly since circumstances have forced Nikolas’ family to live in a shelter. Nikolas was able to pursue his dreams thanks to strong supports provided by Rising Ground.

Here’s a short video interview of Nikolas at the Spring Benefit. Below is a copy of his speech.

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen. My name is Nikolas. It is my pleasure to be here tonight.

“I was fourteen when I and my younger brother and sister were placed in foster care. We’d been under supervision by the City for a year or so. For the most part, we tried to put on a fake show that we were ok, but we weren’t. You could tell my mom and dad were drunk or high. And there wasn’t much food. My brother and sister and I would wait on the food stamps at the end of each month. And it was really tough when things got wild—when my parents fought physically and there was yelling and screaming all night.

“Eventually, my father left—for good. Then, my mom took it real hard—walking around like a zombie. She started taking drugs more and more, messing around with the wrong people. We never had food in the house. That’s when we were placed in care. When you hear about foster care, you think you are going to somebody else’s house and that you are just on your own. I didn’t know that you get a Case Worker who talks with you, stays with you, is there by your side. They really help you out. Lucky for us, we were placed with my grandma. We were alright with her—and I got a lot of help from my Caseworker and others at Rising Ground.

“They helped us right from the start. I have to admit I hadn’t been going to school much for a little while. I wasn’t getting any sleep at night and I was pissed off at stuff. It was freshman year for me. When we moved far from my school, my Caseworker was able to get me into Cardozo H.S. near my grandma. Cardozo is in a good neighborhood and a better school than I was at before. Now I’m going to graduate this June.

“There are many people at Rising Ground that have helped me along the way the past few years. Right from the beginning, they helped us see my mom at visits. We’d all sit down together and talk. It wasn’t amazing at first, but it was a start—and I wanted to stay connected. They help you do all sorts of things I didn’t expect. They didn’t just help me sign up and do the paperwork for my driver’s permit. Ms. McKoy, one of the staff, even went with me to the DMV to get it.

“Now I’m trying to figure out where I’m going to college. I’ve been accepted at a couple SUNY and CUNYs. Ms. McKoy also helped me do all my financial aid forms. I don’t know what I would’ve done without the help.

“Really, there have been so many that have helped me out. My Case Worker, Ms. Mathieson, is great too. I like her because she is honest and straight up. She doesn’t sugar coat things and tells me like it is. Honestly, I have no idea what I would have done without Ms. McCoy, Ms. Mathieson and Ms. Campbell, her supervisor, being there for me—especially this year. They have been great to me and consistently remind me how much my life is worth. Their belief in me has been motivation for me to work so hard and succeed in life.

“It’s been a rough road for a few years, but things are better now. My dad is clean and my brother and sister and I are living with him in a shelter. Now, we’re getting help from Rising Ground with finding an apartment. Soon, we should be moving. My mom is still a big issue. She’s had several heart attacks and is in a rehab. I feel like she’s never going to be the same. But one day, when I’m older, I hope I can help her.

“At first I was upset and sad about coming into care, but it made me open up my eyes. It helped me see that I can do better for myself. Rising Ground has really had my back the whole time. Most of all, I know that I always have someone to talk to—to turn to if I ever need something. I know that I can give them a call. That is the best part.

“Thank you so much for being here tonight and for supporting Rising Ground. You coming here is supporting me and so many others that walk in my shoes every day.”

Since Maggie Prisinzano helped launch the Rising Ground Community School program at JHS 123 in The Bronx two years ago, the school is off the New York City Board of Education’s persistently dangerous list, and attendance is up. This year, the Board of Education has nominated Maggie, program director, for the New York Daily News‘ Hometown Hero in Education award. The newspaper’s profile shows why.

The article described Maggie’s willingness to go “the extra miles for her students. Literally.” She launched a Facebook campaign to collect prom dresses and suits for graduating students, because families couldn’t afford to outfit the students themselves. She even drove five hours to her hometown in Virginia to pick up items.

Maggie collected 400 dresses and 200 suits in all. “I wanted [the students] to look and feel they had the opportunity to shine,” she said. The result: “The kids looked phenomenal.”

Maggie will be honored at a special breakfast with other Hometown Heroes in early October. We congratulate her and all of the many people on staff who go above and beyond the call of duty each day.

The Rising Ground Fatherhood Initiative Shows Dads Matter!

Research shows that dads play a big role in helping children thrive, even if he doesn’t live with his children. On July 1st, 2017, Rising Ground began to work with 200 non-custodial fathers to reconnect with their children. It’s part of the NYC Department of Youth & Community Development’s Fatherhood Initiative.

“We’ll work out an individualized plan to give each father the tools and capacity to build a healthy, nurturing relationship with his children,” explains Nancy Hruska, Senior Director Program Development. “We’ll help dads set personal goals for success and work with our community partners to connect these men to needed benefits. With the proper support, these dads can be a positive force in their children’s lives.”

The NYN Media Insights Podcast Looks at How Rising Ground Has Diversified Its Board

 

Rising Ground’s strong, active board enables us to positively impact the lives of New Yorkers. We were happy to share our insights on board governance and diversity on NYN Media’s Insights Podcast on June 1, 2017. 

In this 20-minute conversation. Alan Mucatel, executive director of Rising Ground, explains that nonprofit leaders should count on a board that asks critical questions, and that a diversity of experience among board members—whether it is professional or personal experience—enriches the conservation around the table.

Erik Moss, one of the newest board members, discusses why his company, BlackRock, encourages emerging leaders to serve on nonprofit boards, and how he connected to Rising Ground through a board service training program called BoardLead, and why his background as a former New York City schoolteacher give him an affinity to Rising Ground’s mission.

Click here to listen or download the podcast.

As Managing Nonprofits Grows More Complex, Rising Ground Welcomes Elise S. Zealand, JD, as In-House Legal Counsel to Provide Important Strategic Support 

Elise S. Zealand, JD, spent 18 years in the for-profit world, serving as general counsel of Penton Media, and as a litigator at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, among other positions. Although she performed pro bono services on a regular basis, her day-to-day work involved mergers and acquisitions, labor law, intellectual property, and litigation matters. But not nonprofit work.

However, Ms. Zealand relished her pro bono work, especially when it involved children and families, and decided to pursue this passion professionally. She has now joined Rising Ground as general counsel, where, she says, “I am supporting people who are doing important work managing a dynamic portfolio of services for the most vulnerable people in our community. I feel that everything I have done has prepared me for this moment. Truth be told, I’ve never wanted a job more than this one.” Rising Ground is an award-winning 186-year-old human-services agency that supports 12,000 vulnerable children, adults, and families in the Greater New York area.

Alan Mucatel, executive director of Rising Ground, says, “With Elise, we feel we have selected someone who has extensive knowledge and experience in areas ranging from employment to contracts, from transactional work to litigation, and from hands-on practice of law to supervising outside counsel. On top of all that, she is deeply motivated to help us in our mission-driven work.”

General Counsels for Nonprofits: A Trend?

With 1,400 employees, 47 programs, 26 sites, and an annual budget of more than $100 million, Rising Ground is a large and complex agency that merits an in-house legal counsel, according to Mr. Mucatel. Additionally, he notes, “the challenging and evolving risk-filled landscape for non-profits demands a strategic thinker with broad legal skills in the organization.”

Those risks for non-profit human-services agencies include reduced government funding; more people in need of multifaceted and coordinated services; more families fractured by the opioid epidemic; and lack of access to enough quality services for children shattered by trauma. Mr. Mucatel says other nonprofits are seeking in-house legal expertise so they are better prepared to meet these challenges.

“In today’s world, nonprofits have to be run as effectively and efficiently as any for-profit enterprise. This is prompting other larger nonprofit human-services agencies to create the position and hire in-house counsel,” he says. “Nonprofits need to be well-managed if they are to have a clear positive impact on individuals, families, and communities.”

Lawyers Seeking Nonprofit Jobs: A Trend?

Fortunately for nonprofits, it seems more lawyers want to do good as well. “Not-for-profit jobs are really competitive in the current climate, in which the safety net that supports our society is threatened,” Ms. Zealand says. “I am encouraged to see many lawyers making the decision to move into the nonprofit world.” Mr. Mucatel notes that interest in the Rising Ground’s general counsel position “was extensive.”

About Elise S. Zealand

A resident of Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Ms. Zealand has served as general counsel, corporate secretary, and vice president of Penton Media, the largest independent media company in the U.S., and worked as a senior litigator at the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She was an associate at Sullivan & Cromwell as well as at Cahill Gordon & Reindel, and was a law clerk to the Hon. William C. Conner of the Southern District of New York.

Ms. Zealand was awarded a JD by Columbia Law School, where she was honored as a James Kent Scholar and a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. She was the writing and research editor of the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems. She received a B.A. magna cum laude in political science and creative writing/French from Loyola College of Maryland. She is admitted to the bar in New York and Connecticut.