ARISE was founded in 2013 to advocate for the needs of refugees and immigrants and support them to reach their full potential. The immigrant and refugee community are typically provided basic, short-term services that do not meet their complex needs. ARISE was established to advocate for this vulnerable population to help them navigate a challenging social support system along with addressing their basic needs, develop language proficiency, and ultimately, participate fully in their new communities. ARISE has historically met this commitment by delivering insurance, housing, and health information seminars, conducting citizenship classes, providing employment resources and workshops, and educating new arrivals to the US about social and cultural norms which differ from those in the nation of their origin. ARISE has delivered programs to meet the Mental health of refugee and immigrant communities and trained dozens of Suicide prevention gatekeepers from the community in the past. ARISE has worked with different university departments and their Principal Investigators (PI) from Harvard Medical School to Clark University to understand refugee and immigrant issues better. In 2022, ARISE launched a Refugee Advocate program that matches college students in the community with member of the recently resettled refugee population to provide individualized support that is based on an assessment of the individual refugee’s specific needs which is adjusted over time as the individual’s needs evolve.
ARISE Inc 