Saving a Great "American" family

THE BACKGROUND

Jackson County students face all sorts of adversities. A couple from Canada has been working for years investing in our students, and they and the staff they lead at Rise Above have been able to work some miracles. Unfortunately, the federal government (USCIS) wants to deport them.

Ask any School Teacher or Superintendent in our Jackson County districts: There are many students in our 12 public school districts who get in serious trouble. Many of these students will get permanently expelled as a result. That problem can lead to a host of others, including a much higher rate of involvement in the criminal justice system. When I asked a local probation officer what organizations in our community were doing the most to assist at-risk youth, he said, without hesitation, "Rise Above."

Rise Above is a non-profit organization in the heart of Jackson County, founded by Neil and Veronica Fernandes 9 years ago. Rise Above equips students to reach their full, God-given potential through relationship restoration and academic credit recovery. Rise Above connects students to our community, the people, businesses, and education through counseling, networking and resource sharing. (Learn more at https://www.riseabovejxn.org/)

When students do get expelled from school, the student and their parents have two choices:

1. Go home and try to do school online, which really means "fall through the cracks," or

2. Go to Rise Above for support.

Rise Above works closely with kids who have been kicked out of high school for various disciplinary reasons. The goal of the student’s time with Rise Above is to identify and correct the sources of their disciplinary issues. Rise Above uses mentoring, tutoring, and deep trust-based relationships to help get students to a place where they can succeed. Rise Above is truly one of the most important charities in our community.

Rise Above partners with Jackson County Schools and has earned the respect and appreciation of all of our Superintendents. Rise Above gives students an opportunity to:

• Do their school work in small group settings with hands-on instruction from caring instructors and coaches

• Focus on the development of responsibility and character

• Have access to a regular schedule, tutoring, and personalized teaching

The result? The students thrive in ways no other program can achieve. And now we are in serious danger of losing this invaluable resource for our community.

Unfortunately, the Fernandes' efforts to continue their work indefinitely have been derailed by a simple mistake by their attorney. Through no fault of their own, they and their two sons have consequently received a deportation order, which they are appealing. So they now face unemployment and deportation as well as the destruction of their life's work.

PROVEN EFFECTIVENESS

Rise Above is an organization our community leaders consider vital. Neil and Veronica, with the help of the staff of Rise Above, literally save lives with their wisdom, compassion, and dedication to our teens.

This work helps students:

• Go back to school more confident, and more equipped, with their families seeing a significant maturation in their son or daughter.

• Students go from being agitated and discouraged to more capable of making it through school with success.

They have worked with hundreds of students, many of whom have gone on to great success; but if it were not for Rise Above, they would likely have been lost in the system.

THEY NEED OUR HELP

Jackson County - and our youth - cannot bear to lose Neil and Veronica, and together, we can give them a fighting chance.

They are charitable people, working for a charitable organization, which means they work for us, not for big bucks. They will have substantial legal fees to fight their deportation order. They will have to find another way to meet their regular living expenses for themselves and their two sons because they have been forbidden to continue their life-changing work.

THEY ARE PART OF OUR COMMUNITY

Together we can muster the resources to preserve this community treasure, for that is what they are. Would you join us in making a donation and spreading the word? I do not know many more deserving people than the Fernandes family, and I humbly ask that you join us in offering them our thanks and encouragement.

So please help them, and pass this along to other concerned and compassionate people. If we manage to raise more than they need for this crisis, we will give the rest to Rise Above (a 501c3 charity) to further its work with children in crisis.

See: https://www.riseabovejxn.org/about-1 and https://www.wlns.com/news/michigan/jackson-non-profit-equips-kids-to-reach-their-full-potential/?fbclid=IwAR32xylI76kH2aAbQzGYjVM1dnC_JMhwVWFiC-iW851RP4M3E-mUWD7KugU

Let’s show them what we can do for them - they have done so much for us and our region.