Ready to Rise Partnership Holds Virtual Event To Highlight Success
Ready to Rise (R2R) is a public-private partnership between Liberty Hill Foundation and the California Community Foundation (CCF) with the goal of ending youth incarceration as we know it, and building a countywide youth development system in which youth of color are positioned to succeed, learn, and thrive.
More than 150 attendees joined Liberty Hill and CCF, the Ready 2 Rise evaluation team of Imoyase Community Support Services and Destiny Coaching and Consulting for a virtual Town Hall to share the results of this multi-year $38 million public private partnership and provide support to our Ready to Rise partners offering culturally responsive community-based services to young people.
Liberty Hill and CCF hosted this virtual town hall to highlight the successes so far and update grantee partners and others about the work of Ready to Rise. Grantees like Bridge Builders, Inner City struggle and others joined the town hall to share how the capacity building, funding, and training from Liberty Hill helps them meet the long-term and short term needs of their communities.
Ready to Rise is structured to meet youth serving community-based organizations where they are and strengthen community-informed programs. The initiative began in 2019 as a $3.2 million pilot, but has now expanded to a more than $38 million multi-year initiative providing funding and/or capacity building to 49 community-based youth development organizations, supporting nearly 14,000 LA County youth, majority Black, Brown, and Native American youth with civic engagement, leadership development, arts, wellness, and academic enrichment.
Grantee partners receive funding to implement a variety of program activities focused on arts, wellness, educational, leadership, workforce development, mentorship, youth organizing and other areas. During the town hall, grantee partners discussed how these resources are concentrated in areas of highest need (Central Metro & South LA) and how the program is uniquely positioned to meet the needs of L.A. County youth. In addition to assessment, training, peer learning and networking each organization receives 1:1 coaching to ensure organizations can heal, build relationships, and increase trust. To date, grantee partners have received more than 640 hours of one-on-one coaching and training through the Ready to Rise program.
An Inside Look:
The developmental approach of the Ready to Rise initiative allows grantee partners to develop new measurements of success. Based on grantee input, the evaluation focused on lifting up and strengthening community-defined outcomes for youth of color and shifting away from “system prescribed” and “conventional” approaches.
98% of the grantee organizations identified relational ties as a key outcome.
During the town hall, Dr. Cheryl Grills from Imoyase Community Support Services—the lead evaluation team on the project—highlighted the importance of participants pursuing self-defined goals. Ready to Rise holistically monitors program outcomes and participants create unique goals based on their program.
Participants experienced a 21% increase in the number of supportive ties and reported significant progress towards accomplishing their program specific, self-defined goals.
There’s still a lot of work to be done and the coalition is busy on the frontlines fighting for systems change and meeting critical needs of youth, and working to build a new youth development system focused on care, not punishment.
Watch the Ready to Rise Townhall recording here.
