The Summer season at RYSE has officially kicked off! We are very excited to work with the young people that signed up for our first summer of structured programming filled with community field trips, workshops, paid internships, and daily catering/dinners among so much more. This sprawling, evolving campus has never been more alive! Read below to get a glimpse into what RYSEr's have been up to...
RYSE staff and members took a field trip to see Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse. Our first collective movie outing since 2018!
Members participated in Freestyle My Future, a vision board pop-up workshop where they manifested the future of their dreams!
Members cooked fried chicken, corn bread, and mac and cheese in the kitchen!
A workshop where members made personalized phone cases!
Join us at the RYSing Arts Festival, the ultimate celebration of youth arts in Contra Costa County! This incredible event brings together visionary young artists and the organizations that uplift their voices through the arts. Despite the challenges of the past years, arts organizations have been a beacon of healing, connection, and belonging, using creativity to inspire new worlds of justice and possibility. Let's come together to honor the transformative power of the arts, support our talented youth, and build a beloved community that cherishes their voices and humanity. Don't miss out on this inspiring celebration!
Ignite the Night: Illuminating Youth Pride!
RYSErs came through to celebrate the vibrant spirit of youth at our exhilarating glow-in-the-dark Pride Month event. This immersive theme is specifically designed to create a safe, inclusive, and captivating environment where young LGBTQIA+ individuals can express themselves freely, build connections, and shine brightly. "Ignite the Night" represents the power and potential of young voices in the LGBTQIA+ community, reminding everyone that even the smallest spark can ignite a revolution of acceptance, love, and belonging.
Board of Supervisors Pride Proclamation
The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors recognized RYSE and Rainbow Community Center during a Pride Month Declaration last month. RYSE staff spoke about the legacy of Pride and of LGBTQIA+ young people's power and courage.
Quest for Democracy
Four RYSE youth leaders attended Quest for Democracy, where they spoke on three bills co-sponsored by RYSE requiring survivors of harm receive notice of the availability of community-based Restorative Justice programs and processes in their community, modifying California’s current youth restitution system, providing survivors with more equitable, timely, and stable compensation, ensuring more youth receive support instead of punishment, and eliminating defiance suspensions in public schools.
YO! California Convening
On June 3rd, YO! California hosted the NorCal Youth Organizing Institute at RYSE. The goal of this powerful space was to convene network partners to build and strengthen relationships, hold space to sharpen collective understanding and practice of healing justice, and offer tools that will allow folks to center community care and wellness. This year’s YOI centered healing and wellness within organizing and movement work as a way to combat fatigue, burn-out, and competition which will allow for collective care, intentional alliances, and organizing from a place of joy, wholeness, and love.
RYSE is on the steering committee for the YO! California Network and RYSE youth leaders were on the Institutes’ planning committee.
Graduation Lounge
RYSE held a Graduation Lounge & Dinner for each of our members graduating high school. We wanted to hold a space where our young people were acknowledged and celebrated for all they accomplished throughout the school year. Graduates designed and decorated their graduation caps and sashes all while enjoying fun, food, music and games.
MYDA
RYSE members and staff joined nine national music and creative youth development organizations in May for the MYDA (Music & Youth Development) Convening in New Orleans. Supported by ELMA Philanthropies, and hosted by Youth Empowerment Project, young people toured New Orleans, collaborated on music projects with young artists, facilitated and participated in intergenerational workshops, and performed at the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music. RYSE is grateful to be a founding member of this beloved community, and we’re looking forward to the next gathering and the relaunch of the MYDA Creative Youth Council this year!
