Our Story

I W8 is just one part of a larger story that is being written in East Tennessee. While our abstinence program began in December of 2005, Rise Up! began in 1995. Starting with just 5 boys in the first year as an after-school program, Rise Up! is now reaching 200 students on a weekly basis. These students are provided with one on one mentoring, sports leagues to participate in, summer camps to attend, leadership development programs, and small groups which provide accountability and lessons in character.

Today, 15 years after that first group, Rise Up! has grown into a non-profit organization with several programs under its umbrella. In 2005 both the Children of Promise and the I W8 programs were added. In 2006 the FAST program -now known as SKIA- was launched. And most recently the 180 program was launched in 2007. Rise Up! moved into its own facility, “The Refuge”, in August of 2007. If you would like more info on any of these programs, you can find out more on the Rise Up! website RiseUpForKids.com

Specifically the I W8 abstinence program has grown from receiving a federal CBAE grant in November of 2005 to working in over 40 schools in upper East Tennessee and SW Virginia in 2010. Some other milestones include being nominated to present at the National Abstinence conference in February 2008, winning an Addy award for advertising for one of our abstinence billboard campaigns, working with Fivestone in Atlanta to create our own brand, and having our program director recognized in the 2008 YW Tribute to Women for her community service.

As a way to raise sponsorship funds for students, Rise Up! will be hosting the 3rd annual Run the Gump 5K Road Race in the spring of 2011.  Runners and walkers of all ages and ability levels are invited to participate.  Check out www.runtricities.org for more information.

I W8 is a program of Rise Up!  •  PO Box 4426, Johnson City, TN 37602 
Phone: 423.610.1242  •   Email: info@RiseUpForKids.com