A $100,000 donation from FirstCaribbean International Bank has been welcomed by the administrators of Reaching Individuals Through Skills & Education (RISE) Life Management Services.

RISE financial administrator Jan Lopez told managing director Nigel Holness on his recent tour of the facilities that the programmes at RISE are designed for “people trying to better themselves”.

Begun in 1989, as “Addiction Alert” — a non-government organisation offering services for the treatment and prevention of addictive disorders, an islandwide telephone counselling service and workplace employee assistance programme — a name change to RISE Life Management Services in 2005 signalled an expansion in services and programmes.

Focused now on addressing the needs of vulnerable populations in Jamaica, particularly youth in inner-city communities, RISE now offers those services previously offered by Addiction Alert as well as community and school-based violence, substance abuse and gambling prevention programmes for at-risk youth; in addition to health, educational and vocational training programmes for adolescents, youth leaders, adults and community workers.

FirstCaribbean’s donation will assist RISE in the expansion of their offices to better administer their programmes.