AUGUST 2021 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 39
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NEW HELPLINE DEBUTS
RISE Life Services has a new helpline. (Getty Images)
BY NICOLE FORMISANO
After more than 40 years of providing
crucial aid to individuals in distress,
RISE Life Services is expanding its
services to include a helpline for those
facing struggles.
In every community, there are individuals
dealing with serious challenges
— disabilities, mental health struggles,
homelessness, addiction. But Riverhead
based RISE is dedicated to making
sure struggling individuals receive the
support they need in order to reach
their full potential. The program has
now launched a helpline with the sole
purpose of making sure anyone in need
of help is receiving the personalized
support they require.
“What the helpline does is, it gives everyone
a specific number to call into,”
says Admission and Intake Director
Darryl Johnson. “Before, they’d just call
RISE, and we have so many different
departments and people working for
us, sometimes it’s hard to connect people
to the correct resource. So the helpline
connects you to the right resources and
team members so that we’re facilitating
that conversation with you from Day
One, as soon as you call.”
When RISE first started out in 1980, the
organization was dedicated to providing
support to those with developmental disabilities,
both mental and physical. Since
then, it has grown to aid anyone who is in
need of support.
“Our motto is that we’re here to help
all people of all abilities,” Johnson says.
“Even though we focus on individuals
with mental illness or developmental
disabilities, there are a lot of people that
have other challenges.”
“Sometimes it’s just, ‘I lost my job, I lost
my housing. What else is out there for
me?’ So we help people of all abilities,
not just those who were diagnosed with
a disability.”
RISE’s services include residential
services, crisis intervention, recreation
therapy, psychological evaluations, and
much more. If an individual is in need
of a service that RISE doesn’t offer, it
will use partnerships with numerous
hospitals, clinics, and businesses in
order to put that individual in contact
with whoever can provide the service
the individual requires.
“Knowledge is key. A lot of times people
just don’t know where to obtain resources
and support from. I think we’re located
in a high-traffic area for people who need
support and services ... So we realized,
you know, we need to have additional
services or support for those individuals
— kind of an outreach program in
the community, to really provide people
with information and services that can
continue to assist them.”
If you or a loved one is in need of information
or support, you can use the helpline
855-RISE-LIFE or visit the website at
riselifeservices.org.
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