Youth with Special Needs (ARISE)

Children with disabilities in St. Cloud area attend schools with their peers and the community as a whole. Recognizing that a child's day does not end when the school day ends, ARISE (A Recreational Inclusion Support Endeavor) provides support for children with disabilities so they can access community recreation and leisure activities with their peers.

ARISE is an activities support service and provides facilitators for youth with disabilities to attend activities/enrichment programming with their peers but ARISE does not provide the programming itself.  Participants must reside in Stearns, Benton or Sherburne Counties, within a 20 mile radius of St. Cloud. ARISE coordinators work with families to determine the needs of each child and to personalize services. They determine if services can be matched based on the availability of qualified staff.

ARISE staff work with school and community-based programs to help children participate in activities outside the school day. (Daycare and religious education classes such as confirmation are not included.) ARISE will also provide inservice training for agency/staff.

ARISE began in 1989 with a grant from Vinland National Center. Funded in part by the United Way of Central Minnesota and Community Giving on behalf of the Thomas A. Ritsche Fund for Youth of Central Minnesota Community Foundation, ARISE also relies on grants, donations and special events for support.

NOTE: ARISE is an activities support service and provides facilitators for youth with disabilities to attend activities/enrichment programming with their peers but ARISE does not provide the programming itself.