RISE:

Restoring Identity for Stability & Empowerment

We recover vital identity documents for our community. Hanging on to ID, birth certificates, and social security records when you are homeless can be extremely difficult. The risk of damage, theft, and loss is high. Once you have lost your documents, recovering them can be nearly impossible, since one form of documentation requires another. Without vital ID, our community members cannot get a job, apply for subsidized housing, access vital healthcare, vote, or open a bank account. We’ve built valuable partnerships throughout the United States to make this process easier and more efficient.

1200 + Documents Recovered

Since 2020

Paul’s Story

Paul is the guy who helped us launch Community on the Rise’s ID recovery program back in May 2020. Paul needed his driver’s license to go to work. He didn’t know his ID number by heart. He didn’t have the money. But he was willing to fight for himself and what he needed, despite the obstacles.

We started making phone calls alongside Paul, having conversations with folks at the Montgomery DMV offices to tell his and other’s stories of the implausibility of moving forward without access to valid ID. Paul HAD A JOB WAITING, if he could just get his ID.

Montgomery Records heard us, and, thanks to Paul’s story, we began the conversations that led to the collaborative system that is in place today, allowing us to update addresses and print temporary IDs from the state of Alabama in our office…so people can move forward.

Months after Paul received his driver’s license and started his new job, he stopped by our office. He pulled out a set of keys that he jingled, and a big smile spread across his face as he said, “I just wanted to show you my keys. To my Blazer. I can drive to work now!”

We’ve heard countless success stories like Paul’s since we launched RISE: people moving forward with one big barrier out of the way.

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Ring My Bell

When a community member succeeds in getting an ID in RISE ID clinic, they ring our little gold bell, and we all CHEER. It is a reminder that we should root for one another to succeed, and we know what a big deal it is to remove this barrier. Check us out below:

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Community on the Rise