Do you believe that children are our future leaders? Yes! So what can we do as a community to nurture that belief, bring strength to our youth and prepare them for the world and its challenges? It starts with fostering youth development and empowerment. Rise Up 365, with a start in 2023, is working to help young people develop their talents and explore their passions while receiving personal support and resources.
Rise Up 365 Works to Support the Youth of Pittsburgh
“If anyone deserves a chance at life and a chance to make mistakes, it’s our youth,” says Brandi Fisher, founder and CEO of Rise Up 365. The program, which was born out of the Alliance for Police Accountability, is focused on embracing the whole person while using science-backed data and practices to inform what is deemed developmentally appropriate for the youth that visit Rise Up’s new J. Miles Youth Engagement Center in downtown Pittsburgh.
Fisher, who has a background in developmental psychology and has worked with youth for years, recognizes that the brain doesn’t fully develop until age 25, so why are we expecting adult responses and behaviors from children who haven’t reached those milestones yet? “We need to understand the ‘why’ behind the behavior and recognize that our response doesn’t always have to be punitive or carceral,” she said. “Accountability can look like love,” she added.
Some things are out of children’s control, like what neighborhood they were born into, what school district they go through and how much money their parents have. They may have disabilities or traumas which create the basis for needs-based work. “We listen to the needs of the people we are connected to,” said Fisher. “When you look at our society, our carceral system is focusing more on youth – opening more juvenile centers and closing or underfunding schools, while increasing police presence. It’s the way we budget our state funding and prioritize our resources. It’s a gross and intentional neglect that results in what we see in our society,” she said.
Creating Opportunities for Children
Instead, Fisher – who informs everything she does through evidence-backed research – notes that looking at root causes and investing on the front-end would produce a more equitable society than being reactive down the road.
“I’m grateful to The Pittsburgh Foundation supporting this work because they recognize that we must have the opportunity to be creative and try innovative things in order to see potential positive changes. The times have changed. We need to see the nonprofit communities and policies change, too,” she said.
While we hear about the need to prioritize mental health, for example, what are we actually doing about it? “We are not investing in it here in Pennsylvania. When Covid-19 hit, we had so many dollars at our disposal, but we didn’t create a world to support what Covid-19 created. People exhibited – and still are exhibiting – survival behaviors, but then we punished them for it,” said Fisher.
She believes that we have to consider the economic, social and mental wellbeing of youth and their families. “We can’t just keep blaming the parents. They have needs, too. We have to create spaces and places where youth have options to have a productive life. Tutoring support, mental health support, access to programs, internships and resources to give them a chance to dream. We want to be that,” she then added.
Story by Natalie Bencivenga / With Support from The Pittsburgh Foundation / Photography by Laura Petrilla
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