JUNE 2021 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 19
UP TO MEET HIGH DEMAND
“Our mission here is to create an
environment where our individuals'
abilities, rather than their deficiencies,
are highlighted, empowering our individuals
to find ambition, strength, and
become fully engaged in community
life. We highlight the value of independence,
interdependence, and inclusion,
and we have seen amazing success in
the process, thanks to our incredibly
dedicated staff of professionals,” Evdos
added.
RISE Life Services, though, is always innovating,
which is what further advances
its reputation both regionally and
nationally as an industrywide leader.
While services provided by RISE are
intended to help the individuals they
serve, there is also a greater sense of
purpose associated with the program.
This is nowhere more evident than in
in the organization’s food pantries’
second location, launched in May in
Hampton Bays.
As Evdos and RISE Life Services know,
food insecurity is an underreported
issue on Long Island. With the onset of
the pandemic leading to greater unemployment,
business loss, and financial
distress across the nation, RISE Life
Services found a way to fill the void.
Through a partnership with Island
Harvest and Long Island Cares, RISE
Life Services operates a food pantry
where participants in their day program
stock the pantries. The locations
are in downtown walkable regions
where people in need can shop with
ease, and the individuals of RISE Life
Services gather with staff and volunteers
from local service organizations
to distribute necessities to local needy
individuals.
Some estimates show that in some areas
of the East End of Long Island, food insecurity
and demand at food pantries
has grown by at least 100 percent.
Although the opening of its Hampton
Bays location was stymied by the global
pandemic, its doors officially opened
with the help of supporters Town of
Riverhead Supervisor Yvette Aguiar
and Town of Southampton Supervisor
Jay Schneiderman. Now, the enthusiastic
participants in the program stock
inventory, clean surfaces, help prepare
care packages, and even deliver the
necessities to those individuals who
are homebound.
The Riverhead location, located at
901 E. Main St., Riverhead, is open on
Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.,
with the new Hampton Bays location
at 185 Montauk Hwy. open every
Thursday, from 10 a.m. through 1:30
p.m. The effort, led by the Main Street
Connection Day Program, has brought
supplemental nutrients to thousands of
locals in need.
“Our RISE Life Services community is
committed to giving back to our community
as well as the individuals we
serve. These pantries are a way to do
just that, helping those in need, while
maintaining our core, fundamental
mission of empowering our individuals
to do good and thrive,” Evdos says
of the program.
But — and perhaps most importantly
— the strength of RISE Life Services is
in its dedicated professionals who have
embraced the importance of the work
they do, changing lives in the process.
RISE employs several hundred employees,
who live on Long Island, so they
share a vested interest in seeing this
community thrive, both at RISE and
beyond.
“Each and every day, our employees
and staff show the goodness of humanity,
the kindness of people, and how a
shared goal can unite people. We are
nothing without our amazing leadership
team, the heads of our programs,
and each and every person that we
proudly employ. Without their support,
dedication, and limitless embrace
of our fundamental principles here at
RISE Life Services, our individuals
would not make such amazing strides.
“We owe them a debt of gratitude, and
this team here is the epitome of the expression,
‘The whole is greater than the
sum of its parts,’” Evdos added.
To learn more about RISE Life Services
or to support its mission, visit RiseLife-
Services.org.
COVER FEATURE
RISE LIFE
OFFERINGS
Day Program Without Walls:Participants
in the innovative program
are afforded the opportunity
to build on their current skill set
to participate in the community.
Offers a variety of classes, excursions
and is intended to provide
daily choices in the community
and promote independence.
Intermediate Care Facility (ICF):
serves individuals who require
heightened care and structure.
The individuals are unable to care
for their basic needs.
Individualized Residential Alternative
(IRA): These are for individuals
who are diagnosed with
developmental disabilities who
require care. They range from a
moderate to severe level.
Mental Health Program: Consists
of four levels of housing that allow
for independence. The goal is to
train and develop the skills an
needed to re-establish themslves
in the community.
RISE LIFE
GOALS
Assertiveness/Self Advocacy
training
Community Integration
Services/Resource
Daily Living Skills Training
Health Services
Medication Management
and Training
Parenting Training
Rehabilitation Counseling
Skill Development
Socialization
Substance Abuse Services
Symptom Management
RISE Life Services provides an array of assistance to its clients.
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