ARISE Master Trainers Bring One-of-a-Kind Life Skills Lessons to Detention Facilities across Florida.

MEDIA RELEASE

ARISE Foundation
824 US HWY 1 Suite #240
North Palm Beach, FL 33408
Phone: (561) 630-2021
Fax: (561) 630-2790

 
Contact: Edmund Benson
Office 561-630-2021

For IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISE Master Trainers Bring One-of-a-Kind Life Skills Lessons to Detention Facilities across Florida.

ARISE Master Trainers contribute knowledge and leadership to detention centers in Florida.

There are 25 detention facilities in the state of Florida. As of November 2009, ARISE life skills training programs are being utilized in 22 of those facilities. The Master Trainer program plays a big part in the continuation of the ARISE interactive group lessons. The newly-certified ARISE Master Trainers return to their sites and teach other staff members how to engage the youth and effectively use the innovative ARISE curricula as ARISE Life Skills Facilitators.

The five-day ARISE Master Trainer workshop is an intense experience for juvenile justice staff. In just a week, these dedicated individuals are transformed into powerhouses of knowledge and expertise. They take their new skill set and use it to educate and motivate the rest of the staff. ARISE Master Trainers certify and mentor their new Life Skills Facilitators and show them how doing the life skills lessons gives incarcerated youth the tools they need to stay out of the adult prison system and lead productive, successful lives.

The Master Training workshop takes commitment and dedication, but the results are often dramatic.

“The Master Training helped me expand my thinking,” said Joe Bellamy of the Osceola Detention Center in Kissimmee, Florida said. “I was able to share my personal experiences. It was very informative and helpful.”

For almost 25 years, ARISE, a nonprofit foundation, has functioned as a developer and publisher of life-management skills curricula and staff training programs. Created to reach at-risk, incarcerated youth in detention centers and secure facilities as well as other troubled youth. ARISE is also utilized as a powerful prevention tool for teenagers and young adults.  ARISE programs consist of interactive group discussions and activities designed to break the ice quickly and capture the attention of even the most introverted participants.

ARISE attributes its success to its three innovative staff training programs. The Life Skills Facilitator training teaches staff how to conduct ARISE interactive group discussions and activities with the troubled youth in their care. The Master Training workshop, mentioned above, certifies participants to train others as ARISE Life Skills Group Facilitators at their respective facilities. The ARISE Drop It at the Door training shows juvenile justice staff how to drop work-related stress and anger at the door when they get home and vice versa.

ARISE programs were utilized for decades in the Miami-Dade School system. ARISE has forged a strong partnership with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). ARISE programs have been changing the lives of juvenile offenders in the Florida juvenile justice system since 1996. Its dynamic programs are being taught in over 70 DJJ facilities across the state, as well as alternative schools and organizations such as the Salvation Army and the Boys and Girls Clubs.

ARISE programs are also used in over 100 organizations in the District of Columbia, including Washington, D.C. public and charter schools, the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, the Metropolitan Police, the District of Columbia jail and the D.C. Superior Court Probation Department.

Because ARISE is not for profit, it is able to provide a wide array of training opportunities and an ever-evolving life skills curricula for at-risk youth at rock-bottom prices. Profit is not a motivating factor. Its nonprofit status gives ARISE Foundation the ability to get out into the community, speak to incarcerated youth and adults, and turn their cautionary tales into lessons meant to assist at-risk youth in becoming law abiding citizens by learning from others’ mistakes.

A recent study by Vanderbilt University and the University of Maryland showed that the cost of one offender with at least six police contacts from childhood to age 32 is $3,172,998. In other words, rescuing one child from a life of crime saves taxpayers more than three million dollars.

Since ARISE was established over two decades ago, it has trained and certified  5,760 Group Facilitators who have taught over 4,055,708 documented hours of ARISE life-skills lessons in almost all 50 states. ARISE has been used successfully in Canada, Jamaica, England, Australia, Bahamas, Bermuda, New Zealand, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bosnia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Botswana and the Kingdom of Bahrain. Requests for translation have also come in from as far away as Pakistan, South Africa, Cambodia, Singapore and China.

For more information, please call Edmund Benson at ARISE toll free: 1 (888) 680-6100 or visit http://www.ariselife-skills.org.

ARISE to conduct its Renowned Master Training Workshop in Marianna with a Select Group of Florida Juvenile Justice Staff.

MEDIA RELEASE

ARISE Foundation
824 US HWY 1 Suite #240
North Palm Beach, FL 33408
Phone: (561) 630-2021
Fax: (561) 630-2790
 
Contact: Edmund Benson
Office 561-630-2021

 
For IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISE to conduct its Renowned Master Training Workshop in Marianna with a Select Group of Florida Juvenile Justice Staff.

ARISE Master Life Skills Certification gives juvenile justice staff the understanding and assurance they need to assume leadership roles and teach others how to facilitate ARISE life skills groups.

ARISE Foundation will conduct its Master Life Skills Training workshop October 5^th through 9^th at Chipola College, 3094 Indian Circle. This groundbreaking five-day course will run from 9:00 to 4:30 each day.

Participants in this remarkable workshop will be able to take what they have learned and effectively train others at their organization to lead lively group discussions and activities with the troubled youth and young adults in their charge. The “Big 10” interactive group activities are designed to draw troubled youth out of their shells, get them talking and make them feel listened to and respected. ARISE life-skills lessons are tailor-made for learners with reading and learning deficiencies and severe behavioral issues. The Master Life Skills trainers will teach others how to steer youth in the right direction by providing new facilitators with the know-how to use the breakthrough ARISE curricula to help disadvantaged youth grasp life’s unwritten rules. Among the 260 life lessons ARISE has created are anger and conflict management, self-esteem, drug and alcohol abuse prevention and job search skills.

For almost 25 years, ARISE, a nonprofit foundation, has functioned as a developer and publisher of life-management skills curricula and staff training programs. Created to reach at-risk, incarcerated youth in detention centers and secure facilities as well as other troubled youth, ARISE is also utilized as a powerful prevention tool for teenagers and young adults.  ARISE programs consist of interactive group discussions and activities designed to break the ice quickly and capture the attention of even the most introverted participants.

ARISE attributes its success to its three innovative staff training programs. The Life Skills Facilitator training teaches staff how to conduct ARISE interactive group discussions and activities with the troubled youth in their care. The Master Training workshop, such as this one in Marianna, certifies participants to train others as ARISE Life Skills Group Facilitators at their respective facilities. ARISE CHOICES: Drop It at the Door shows juvenile justice staff how to drop work-related stress and anger at the door when they get home and vice versa.

ARISE programs were utilized for decades in the Miami-Dade School system. ARISE has forged a strong partnership with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). ARISE programs have been changing the lives of juvenile offenders in the Florida juvenile justice system since 1996. Its dynamic programs are being taught in over 70 DJJ facilities across the state, as well as alternative schools and organizations such as the Salvation Army and the Boys and Girls Clubs.

ARISE programs are also used in over 100 organizations in the District of Columbia, including Washington, D.C. public and charter schools, the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, the Metropolitan Police, the District of Columbia jail and the D.C. Superior Court Probation Department.

Because ARISE is not for profit, it is able to provide a wide array of training opportunities and an ever-evolving life skills curricula for at-risk youth at rock-bottom prices. Profit is not a motivating factor. Its nonprofit status gives ARISE Foundation the ability to get out into the community, speak to incarcerated youth and adults, and turn their cautionary tales into lessons meant to assist at-risk youth in becoming law abiding citizens by learning from others’ mistakes.

A recent study by Vanderbilt University and the University of Maryland showed that the cost of one offender with at least six police contacts from childhood to age 32 is $3,172,998. In other words, rescuing one child from a life of crime saves taxpayers more than three million dollars.

Since ARISE was established over two decades ago, it has trained and certified  5,760 Group Facilitators who have taught over 4,055,708 documented hours of ARISE life-skills lessons in almost all 50 states. ARISE has been used successfully in Canada, Jamaica, England, Australia, Bahamas, Bermuda, New Zealand, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bosnia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Botswana and the Kingdom of Bahrain. Requests for translation have also come in from as far away as Pakistan, South Africa, Cambodia, Singapore and China.

For more information, please call Yasmin at ARISE toll free: 1 (888) 680-6100 or visit http://www.ariselife-skills.org.

ARISE Works With Some of the Toughest Kids in Florida and the Most Dedicated Caregivers on the Planet.

ARISE Foundation co-founder Edmund Benson recently celebrated his 80th birthday.  As a gesture of thanks, he gave his birthday cake to the dedicated staff of Thompson Academy in Pembroke Pines, FL. Thompson Academy is a secure juvenile justice facility where approximately 150 youth are held under lock and key for six to nine months while undergoing positive behavior changes. While the youth are at Thompson,  ARISE trained group facilitators (the lucky recipients of the birthday cake) conduct ARISE group discussions and activities for 45-60 minutes a day, four days per week. These young men are positively engaged while they learn about anger and conflict management, the importance of education, how to prepare for a world where jobs are hard to come by, and many more valuable lessons. Motivated by the ARISE experience, these youth come to the realization that this information will only help them in life. Thanks to the well-trained staff at Thompson and the ARISE Life Management Skills curricula, created specifically for these troubled youth, they have a chance of leading law-abiding, successful lives upon their release from the program.

Edmund Benson, co-founder of ARISE, celebrates his 80th birthday by contributing over 100 life management skills curricula to the international nonprofit community.

Edmund Benson, former at-risk kid and founder of ARISE Foundation, is celebrating his 80th birthday by giving a gift to the international nonprofit community: the creative licenses for all of the 100 ARISE life-skills curricula materials. Benson will allow the materials to be translated free of charge into any language (except Spanish, which has been done), for use in life-skills training programs around the world.

Benson and his wife Susan created the nonprofit ARISE Foundation in 1986. The foundation has since trained and certified over five thousand group facilitators who have taught over four million documented hours of ARISE life-skills lessons in Florida alone. ARISE programs are also used throughout the US, in Canada, Jamaica, England, Australia, the Bahamas, Bermuda, New Zealand, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bosnia, Botswana and Kazakhstan.

ARISE life-skills lessons are designed to engage at-risk populations with interactive, entertaining, easy-to-understand lessons about important topics such as anger management, self-esteem, peer pressure, gang avoidance, drug and alcohol prevention, the power of networking, interviewing and keeping a job, domestic abuse, etiquette and manners, conflict resolution, bullying and violence prevention, health and hygiene, stress management, stranger safety and much more.

ARISE lessons have a memorable impact on troubled youth because, for the most part, they are conducted by ARISE-trained group facilitators who carry out guided group discussions with exciting activities that are easily understood and put into practice. ARISE group facilitators inspire conversation, involvement and interest. The ARISE life-skills lessons are not sequential. Each stands on its own, making them ideal for transient populations. Everyone starts fresh with each new learning experience.

ARISE life-management skills curricula are used in public, alternative and charter schools, juvenile justice facilities, residential treatment centers, faith-based organizations, Salvation Army, Boys and Girls Clubs, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s After School All-Stars program and organizations that educate orphans and other troubled youth around the world. The programs are written for underachieving pre-k, elementary, and middle school children, teens, and young adults with limited reading and writing capabilities. The ARISE life-management skills program succeeds with youth who have behavior issues and special needs. Those non-profit organizations interested in the ARISE free creative licensing program can communicate directly with Edmund Benson by calling 561-630-2021 (overseas); in the US, call (toll-free)888-680-6100 or visit the ARISE website at http://www.ariselife-skills.org to download the creative license kit and get more information. #####

ARISE gives Pinellas Marine Institute staff the skills they need to prevent at-risk juvenile offenders from dropping out of school.

 

NEWS RELEASE

ARISE Foundation
824 US HWY 1 Suite #240
North Palm Beach, FL 33408
Phone: (561) 630-2021
Fax: (561) 630-2790

CONTACT: EDMUND BENSON
Office 561-630-2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISE gives Pinellas Marine Institute staff the skills they need to prevent at-risk juvenile offenders from dropping out of school.

The two-day ARISE Life Skills Facilitator training workshop will show participants how to lead exciting ARISE group discussions and activities.

ARISE Certified Master Trainer Star Moran will conduct a two-day Life-Skills Facilitator Training at Pinellas Marine Institute in St. Petersburg, FL August 24 and 25. PMI is a Department of Juvenile Justice contracted program serving youth 14-18 years of age who have been frequently delinquent or expelled from public school. The school uses the ARISE curricula as part of its intensive dropout prevention program.

The ARISE Life Skills Instructor Certification program is part of a comprehensive approach to getting at-risk youth back on track. The freshly-certified instructors emerge from training with confidence and a thorough knowledge of how to engage troubled youth in active group discussions and awaken their sense of creativity, cooperation and self-worth. Not only are staff members taught how to build relationships with kids that rebel against authority figures, but they are also provided with the innovative ARISE life skills curricula. The ARISE library was designed to educate youth who may have trouble reading and writing. Each lesson appeals to learners of every age and scholastic ability. The pages are easy to read and packed with attention-grabbing activities that teach valuable life skills such as anger management, substance abuse prevention, gang avoidance, interview and job search skills, health and hygiene, STD awareness and much more.

For over 20 years, ARISE has operated as a developer and publisher of Life Management Skills curricula and staff training programs. Designed to reach at-risk, incarcerated youth in detention centers and secure facilities as well as other troubled youth, ARISE is also utilized as a powerful prevention tool for teenagers and young adults. ARISE programs consist of interactive group discussions and activities designed to break the ice quickly and grab the attention of even the most reserved participants. ARISE is particularly appropriate for youth with special requirements such as limited reading and/or writing ability and behavioral problems.

In its home state of Florida, ARISE were utilized for decades in the Miami-Dade School system. ARISE has forged a strong partnership with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). ARISE programs have been changing the lives of juvenile offenders in the Florida juvenile justice system since 1996. Its dynamic programs are being taught in over 70 DJJ facilities across the state, including the Salvation Army, Boys and Girls Clubs and alternative schools.

ARISE programs are also used in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and over 100 organizations in the District of Columbia, including Washington, D.C. public and charter schools, the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, the Metropolitan Police, the District of Columbia jail and the D.C. Superior Court Probation Department.

A recent study by Vanderbilt University and the University of Maryland showed that the cost of one offender with at least six police contacts from childhood to age 32 is $3,172,998. In other words, rescuing one child from a life of crime saves taxpayers more than $3 million dollars.

Since ARISE was established over two decades ago, it has trained and certified 5,760 Group Facilitators who have taught over 4,055,708 documented hours of ARISE life-skills lessons across the United States. ARISE is currently being used in Canada, Jamaica, England, Australia, Bahamas, Bermuda, New Zealand, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bosnia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia and the Kingdom of Bahrain. Requests for translation have also come in from as far away as Pakistan, South Africa, Cambodia, Singapore and China.

For more information, or to sign up for training, please call Yasmin Isaacs at ARISE toll free: 1 (888) 680-6100 or visit ariselife-skills.org.

Drop it at the Door: ARISE gives New Mexico teachers the skills they need to reject negative emotions.

ARISE Foundation
824 US HWY 1 Suite #240
North Palm Beach, FL 33408
Phone: (561) 630-2021
Fax: (561) 630-2790

CONTACT: EDMUND BENSON
Office 561-630-2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Drop it at the Door: ARISE gives New Mexico teachers the skills they need to reject negative emotions.

ARISE will journey cross-country to bring anger and stress management to the staff of Academy of Trades and Technologies.

Continuing its effort to bring anger management and stress prevention to those that work with at-risk youth, ARISE Foundation will conduct its CHOICES: Drop it at the Door workshop at ATT in Albuquerque, New Mexico August 11 and 12. The Academy of Trades and Technologies is a vocational-technical high school for at-risk teens. The Academy offers students design and construction classes as well as assistance with mental health, housing and healthcare. The mission of the Academy is to not only give their students a viable career, but to steer them away from the at-risk lifestyles many of them were living before they enrolled in the Academy. Intervention Coordinator Colleen Chavez uses much of the ARISE life skills curricula and conducts group discussions with the teens about gang prevention, anger management, drug and alcohol abuse prevention, job search and interview skills and more.

“Our school is really their last chance resort,” Chavez said. “They’ve been kicked out of other schools and this is their last place to go. Even if they’ve been expelled from another school, we take them in. We want to get these kids job ready.”

As part of the Academy’s Professional Development Days, ARISE will conduct its intensive, two-day,
14-hour staff training workshop entitled CHOICES: Drop it at the Door. CHOICES is an innovative training that gives participants working with difficult populations the tools to handle anger and stress through making better choices in their work and personal lives. CHOICES is a perk provided by employers who want their staff to be successful both on the job and at home.

“This is a high stress job,” Chavez said. “We wanted to help ourselves de-stress. We take in a lot of negativity from these kids. How do you not take it personally?”

The training will give the staff of ATT a solid understanding of how they can make the choice to drop home- and work-related anger, stress and frustration “at the door.” CHOICES training effectively stops the boomerang effect of stress and negativity, relieving the tension and harmful emotions that can shuttle between the workplace and home. This powerful anger and stress management workshop prepares participants to deal with difficult populations. Troubled youth are often so angry that they lash out at everyone around them. ARISE trains juvenile justice staff and others that work with at-risk youth how to avoid confrontation by using proven techniques and strategies demonstrated and practiced in this unique CHOICES training.

The ARISE CHOICES: Drop It At The Door training program has been extremely successful in the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, where it has been conducted in various residential facilities. ARISE has also expanded its CHOICES program to include other government agencies such as police, corrections and probations departments that require employees to confront difficult and often dangerous situations on a daily basis.

For over 20 years, ARISE has operated as a developer and publisher of Life Management Skills curricula and staff training programs. Designed to reach at-risk, incarcerated youth in detention centers and secure facilities and on probation, ARISE is also utilized as a powerful prevention tool for teenagers and young adults. ARISE programs consist of interactive group discussions and activities designed to break the ice quickly and grab the attention of even the most turned-off participants.

In its home state of Florida, ARISE was utilized for decades in the Miami-Dade School system. ARISE has forged a strong partnership with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). ARISE programs have been changing the lives of juvenile offenders in the Florida juvenile justice system since 1996. Its dynamic programs are currently being taught in 74 DJJ facilities across the state, as well as the Salvation Army, Boys and Girls Clubs and alternative schools.

ARISE programs are also used in over 100 organizations in the District of Columbia, including public and charter schools, the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, the Metropolitan Police, the District of Columbia jail and the D.C. Superior Court Probation Department.

A 2007 study by Vanderbilt University and the University of Maryland showed that the cost of one offender with at least six police contacts from childhood to age 32 is $3,172,998. In other words, rescuing one youth from a life of crime saves taxpayers more than $3 million dollars.

Since ARISE was established over two decades ago, it has trained and certified 5,760 Group Facilitators who have taught over 4,055,788 documented hours of ARISE life-skills lessons across the United States. ARISE is also being used in Canada, Jamaica, England, Australia, Bahamas, Bermuda, New Zealand, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bosnia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia and the Kingdom of Bahrain. ARISE curricula are presently being translated into Kazakh, Russian. Requests for translations have also come in from as far away as Pakistan and South Africa.

For more information, or to schedule a training, please call Yasmin Isaacs toll free: 1 (888) 680-6100 or visit http://www.ariselife-skills.org

10 Quotes About Attitude, Brought to You by ARISE Life Skills and Training

The world we live in is never black and white. The universe is colored by the way you look at it—attitude determines whether you see just the black cloud, or its silver lining. Attitude isn’t determined by how much money you make, how you were raised, where you live or the people around you. What makes a positive attitude so powerful is its ability to exist independently, and sometimes in spite of, the world around you.

Here are 10 quotes about attitude.

1. “The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same.” —Carlos Castaneda
2. “The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.” —Frank Lloyd Wright
3. “Thought is the sculptor who can create the person you want to be.” —Henry David Thoreau
4. “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” —Marcus Aurelius
5. “The greatest part of our happiness depends on our dispositions, not our circumstances.”      —Martha Washington
6. “Everything can be taken from man but the last of human freedoms—the ability to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” —Victor Frankl
7. “The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.” —William James
8. “An optimist is the human personification of Spring.” —Susan J. Bissonette
9. “Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can.” —Richard Bach
10. “To different minds, the same world is a hell, and a heaven.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

Changing your attitude can be difficult. If you need a little help, try taking an ARISE CHOICES: Drop it at the Door workshop. The CHOICES training teaches you how to let go of anger, resentment and stress, especially in the workplace. The goal of the CHOICES training is to stop the “boomerang” effect of taking work-related stress home, and carrying worry about home issues to work. CHOICES participants learn how to drop stress, anger and negativity “at the door,” improving both their work and home lives.

To sign up for CHOICES training or find out more information about ARISE Foundation’s other programs, visit the ARISE website or call TOLL FREE:  1 (888) 680-6100 .

Let Go and Forgive, Brought To You by ARISE Life Skills and Training

A few weeks ago, ARISE founder Edmund Benson came across a fantastic article entitled “How To Let Go and Forgive” by Leo Babauta. The concepts in the article are so crucial to happiness, yet so difficult for most people to grasp. We have all been hurt by someone at some point in our lives. Everyone experiences pain; not everyone deals with it in the same way. Certain people make a conscious CHOICE to let go and forgive. It’s not easy, but the results can be liberating.

In his article, Mr. Babauta explained the following important points about holding onto anger and resentment:

1. You must commit to letting go.  It is a constant, conscious process.
2. Think of the problems that arise from holding pain inside you. Then think of how good it would feel to not have those problems any longer.
3. Realize that you have a CHOICE. No one is forcing you to harbor negative feelings. You can control your actions AND your thoughts. Remember that.
4. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Try to understand and empathize.
5. Try to understand your own responsibility for the situation. Could you have prevented it from happening?
6. Focus on the present. There is an old chinese proverb that says “the past is gone, the future is uncertain…but the present is a gift.” When you start dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, stop yourself and live in the moment. Find the joy in life NOW.
7. Breathe. Think of each breath as a vessel, moving positive energy in and negative energy out.
8. Feel compassion. Realize that by forgiving and moving on, you are allowing yourself happiness. This is not easy, especially when you harbor so much anger towards the person. Take the high road and wish happiness on the other person. Realize that when you hold anger inside, you are only hurting yourself.

ARISE understands the power of forgiveness, positive thought and making a choice to dump negativity. In fact, we created a training workshop called CHOICES: Drop it at the Door just for this purpose.  CHOICES is a two-day workshop with the power to change your entire life. It was designed to help juvenile justice employees and those that work with at-risk and troubled youth, but it can work for anyone. If you find yourself bringing workplace frustration and anger home to your family, or dragging financial or relationship stress to work, CHOICES can help you. Learn how to manage your stress and anger, control your thoughts and make a CHOICE to live a happy, healthy, positive lifestyle.

To learn more about the CHOICES: Drop it at the Door Training, visit the ARISE website.

Homeless Children: How to Help the Economy’s Most Vulnerable Victims

 

One of the risk factors for ending up homeless is if your parents are homeless. In a crumbling economy, rife with job loss and foreclosures, the number of homeless people has started climbing again after experiencing a downturn from 2004-2007.

“‘I’ve never seen it like this before, and I have 30 years of experience working with the homeless,’ said Darlene Newsom, head of the UMOM Day Centers emergency housing project in Phoenix, Arizona, where the number of homeless families seeking services has doubled in the past three months.” (Reuters, March 26,2009)

The Sun Sentinel ran a piece on April 13, 2008, entitled “Economy takes toll on kids” about the South Florida’s growing population of homeless children. Schools are often left to cope with the effects of families that lose their homes. Homeless kids struggle to stay focused, are often stressed, and act out to get attention. Many are teased by their classmates.

Broward County, FL has about 1,600 homeless children enrolled in the school system, according to the article. Palm Beach County has 953. Most of them are living “in shelters, motels and cars, or doubling up with friends or relatives.”

Being homeless puts kids at risk of foregoing their education and turning into homeless adults. “Fewer than one in four graduate from high school, and homeless children worry more and get sick more often than other kids.” (Sun Sentinel)

In addition to the high toll homelessness takes on their own lives, these at-risk kids, should they decide to drop out of school, cost taxpayers milions of dollars as they grow up and become dependant on the state.

So what can be done to give homeless children the tools they need to survive these hard times?  It is possible for homeless and at-risk youth to remain strong and resilient through their families’ struggles. Being homeless as a child does not have to automatically equate to a wasted life.

ARISE Foundation’s vast library of life skills material can help homeless kids build their self esteem, stay in school, handle bullies, manage their anger and experience an outlet for their emotions. ARISE lessons offer kids and teens practical advice, tips and tools to help them make the right decisions. The lessons are best taught in a group environment, where learners can share their experiences, get things off their chests and feel validated and appreciated in spite of their economic situations.

The following ARISE books are ideal for a homelessness prevention program, a support program for youth that are already homeless, a dropout prevention program or a life skills workshop:

1.  Anger Management
2. Self Esteem
3. So You’re Thinking of Dropping Out?
4. Networking, Jobs and Money
5. Learning Strategies and Time Management
6. Violence and Conflict
7. Substance Abuse and Guns

All ARISE material is best taught by certified ARISE Life Skills Facilitators. When you go through the ALSF training, you learn how to bring the learners out of their shells, how to engage and interest them, how to conduct the lessons in a productive way and how to make sure that you get the most out of each book.

To learn more about training or purchase ARISE materials, visit the ARISE Website or call TOLL FREE (888) 680-6100.

Keeping Kids Off The Streets: How ARISE Helps Prevent Homelessness

As of 2005, there were 744,000 homeless people in the United States, according to a study by the National Alliance to End Homelessness (msnbc.com).  What causes people to become homeless? Dr. Carl Cohen, a professor of psychiatry at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY, suggests that a number of risk factors accumulate over time to create homelessness. Some of those risk factors include:

• age, race, ethnicity
• low income
• disruptive events in youth, such as the death of a parent
• prior imprisonment
• chemical abuse
• psychiatric disorders
• victimization
• poor social support

Many of these risk factors occur during youth. ARISE life skills lessons are a valuable tool for any homelessness prevention program because they attack the problem on multiple fronts. ARISE believes that it’s never too early or too late to help keep these kids off the streets, which is why the ARISE curricula offers life skills material for children from pre-k through the teen years. The ARISE life skills library teaches young people how to manage their anger, build their self esteem, communicate effectively, understand the importance of getting an education, avoid abusing drugs and alcohol, stay out of a gang, get and keep a job and reach their highest potential. 

But it’s not just the material itself that does the trick. ARISE programs provide structure to any homeless prevention program. They get youth to open up and express themselves through group discussions and activities. Most of the time, young people just want to be heard. A lack of self-worth, a sense of belonging and the feeling that someone cares about them often drive youth to look for that attention and validation in dangerous ways. ARISE also trains people to use its curricula, turning instructors into mentors, always ready to listen, understand and value the opinions of the youth they interact with.

If you arm kids and teens with these basic life skills, you give them the foundation they need to stay off the streets. A person with an education, high self esteem, great communication skills, strong social connections and a body free of drug and alcohol addiction is unlikely to end up as a statistic. 

For more information on how ARISE can help your homelessness prevention program, visit the ARISE website.