Our Mission
Survivors Rise is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization in the greater Phoenix, Arizona area dedicated to serving survivors of sexual assault with peer-led, peer-driven programming that creates community and fosters holistic healing.
Our organization is committed to supporting survivors at every stage in their journey toward recovery, healing, and wellness as they regain control in their lives, minimizing the long-term devastating effects of sexual violence. We offer a safe, supportive, and nurturing community where survivors can connect and find the resources and support necessary to thrive. We actively engage in professional development and educational initiatives with other organizations, striving to inspire transformative change that will better meet the needs of survivors.
What We Do: R.I.S.E.
Reimagine.
Our nonprofit is based on solid research, including research straight from the words of Phoenix-area survivors themselves, that led us to understand that services as they are currently offered are not expansive enough to meet all survivors' needs. We reimagined the limited traditional offerings of support for survivors and have expanded on them, based on what survivors themselves stated they wanted. We continually reimagine and update the most relevant services on a regular basis to maximize our impact.
Innovate.
Our innovative community events and workshops provide survivors and their loved ones with opportunities to connect with others and build a strong support network while also enjoying holistic healing through movement, art, and community connection. We build our programs by listening to survivors and truly understanding their needs. We empower survivors wherever they are in the dynamic and ongoing process of healing, growth and rebuilding their lives after the trauma of sexual violence.
Strengthen.
We believe that we must strengthen community readiness and appropriate response to instances of sexual violence.
We offer educational talks and professional development for other organizations working with survivors of sexual violence to discuss best practices and lesser known topics (i.e. institutional betrayal), and ensure survivors receive the best response that they possibly can when they call an agency to reach out for help. We must be ready to collaborate and create dynamic partnerships to better serve survivors.
Elevate.
At Survivors RISE, we believe that we must continually elevate services and programs for survivors of sexual violence. As survivors have new needs, we must be ready to provide new solutions. As our community and society responds to issues of sexual violence, we must be ready to elevate the conversation. Survivors will not be silenced, held back, or left in isolation any longer- and our communities must be ready to elevate in conversation with us. Together we can have a world free of sexual violence.
Why Specifically for Sexual Assault Survivors?
Survivors deserve a place to be heard, believed, and supported while accessing peer support, healing wellness services, and a compassionate community of peers who will walk by their side and meet them where they are.
“If there's arson on your house, you don't feel shame about that, you feel anger and everybody comes around you and feels anger with you. But as soon as you mention rape, everybody gets quiet and goes away.” -A
“But when I think of justice now, in this very personal context, if I can just speak freely and identify freely without being treated differently, like stigmatized, and being believed.”
-K
“It's even outside the CJ system, just our whole society and rape culture needs to be addressed at the very foundation, because why are these crimes happening in the first place?”
-E
Survivors in Arizona have expressed the need for a broader menu of services available to them as they find ways to move forward and heal after the devastating impact of sexual assault. Our goal is to reimagine those services and approach healing in innovative ways that empower survivors. We listen to survivors, honoring their needs and their deep resilience, and base services off of what we hear that they are seeking. At RISE, we celebrate survivors' resilience, voice, participation, creativity, and energy for change.
Our innovative approach to promoting peer connection, bringing awareness to the community, and providing professional development to other sexual assault organizations seeks to stretch beyond the goal of merely providing a service. We see the need to move the needle in creating societal change and believe our robust approach can make it happen. We can elevate traditional services while also creating, growing, and promoting new services. We aim to be accessible- we will serve all survivors and we will never make our services contingent on reporting, ever.
We love to ask the question: "What more can we be doing?"
Because no survivor deserves to feel that "everybody gets quiet and goes away" in their darkest hour.
We want to give survivors the space to talk freely and be believed, and to heal in community and away from isolation. And we want the rest of the community to understand why these acts of violence are so harmful in the first place and what we can do about it, so that together, we can rise above sexual violence.
Healing happens in community.
RISE with us!
Healing happens in community
You Belong Here