“One of the most challenging issues Akron faces is homelessness; there has been an unsettling amount of families and youth that deal with poverty and as a result they are unable to support themselves with even the basic needs. The Akron area has been actively working towards closing the gap between resource and community access.”
-Deb Manteghi
Project RISE is a program that helps youth and family pursue higher education while experiencing homelessness. The program has helped more than 1,500 children in the public schools and the number of young people in need keeps growing. Project RISE helps provide transportation, tutoring, supplies and other services so children of homeless families can stay in their district.
We had the opportunity to interview Manager and District Liaison Debra Manteghi, who shares her passion for helping families move forward socially, economically and educationally. Manteghi hopes that Project RISE can act as the gap between homelessness and opportunity.
There is no way to properly invest in a child’s well being without investing into the entire family, says Manteghi, because having a stable family unit is crucial to stability and combating homelessness.
For information about this program, and how you can support it, visit sites.google.com/site/apsprojectrise/home.
