Arise for Social Justice Records, 1956-2010 (bulk 1985-2010)

Though the members initially conceived of the group as a welfare rights organization "because all of us were recipients," they "soon realized that all people who live below the poverty line are suffering from discrimination, violation of rights, and threats to their survival and that the working poor and recipients were being played off against each other instead of coming together for your common survival." 1 "By the time we wrote our by-laws we had become a low-income rights organization." 2 In the mid-1990s, Arise added a significant element of "anti-oppression work" to its mission.

Initial efforts focused on injustices in the welfare system. Issues listed on the agenda for Arise's first outreach meeting in March 1985 include child support, the "Up to Poverty" campaign and "Other Issues" (including federal budget cuts, sensitivity, information network, employment training and work incentives, child care, and Pell grants). By the second meeting, the members added the issue of Medicaid access.

Arise incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1986. It hired its first director, opened its first office, and became a delegate agency of the Springfield Action Commission, a local anti-poverty agency in 1987. A six- to ten-member Board of Directors oversaw business affairs and property. Committees provided the "strategic thinking" for the organization. The small paid staff worked primarily on financial development, training, and volunteer coordination. Grants sometimes allowed for hiring staff to work on special projects.

Arise has created its own programs and worked on many projects and campaigns in coalition with other groups on a regional, state, and national level. The organization's interests and activities, while varied, are strongly interconnected, with social and economic justice at their core. In most instances Arise has combined work for specific goals, or to provide services which would directly impact its members and the residents of Springfield, while also working to change underlying systems.

At its founding, Arise joined the "Up to Poverty" Campaign, a statewide, grassroots effort led by welfare recipients to create a minimum welfare payment level for families and individuals who relied on Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) or General Relief (GR) for all or part of their income. The concept was to bring the amount of the grant up to the federal poverty level.

The coalition of over ninety Massachusetts organizations working on the campaign took as its motto, "A right to thrive, not barely survive." They scored an early success when two of the organizations, the Coalition for Basic Human Needs and the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, filed a lawsuit in 1985 that claimed that the low level of grants violated state law. The presiding judge agreed, and in September of 1986, the state issued a report establishing a guaranteed minimum grant. Though the group felt this minimum was still inadequate, this early victory helped launch Arise. By 1988 the Massachusetts coalition had joined with the national "Up and Out of Poverty Now" Campaign.

In 1986 Arise formed support groups called Justice for Parents and Children Under Protective Services and Children and Parent's Advocacy (CAPA) to publicize the difficulties parents confronted in dealing with the Department of Social Services (DSS). They outlined their needs for better information; improved communication; clear protocols, definitions, and policies; translators; and cultural sensitivity. The groups held demonstrations, vigils, and letter-writing and media campaigns. They worked on child custody issues, foster care and adoption issues, false accusations of child abuse, and advocated for the reorganization of DSS and an examination of its practices both in specific cases and in general.

Arise members trained as Citizen Advocates to assist individuals in navigating the legal system, health care infrastructure, and a variety of city, state, and federal offices and departments, such as Veterans Affairs, Public Welfare, Housing Authority, Social Services, and Prisons. The training emphasized knowledge of clients' rights and effective advocacy techniques. Advocates aided clients with welfare system issues, such as food stamps, Medicaid cards, and fair hearings. They also helped with housing issues, evictions and problems with landlords; and other matters, such as divorce, separation, restraining orders, and child support payments; social security; and disability. Arise-trained Citizen Advocates helped Springfield residents to write letters, fill out forms, and would accompany them on visits to various offices.

Arise also helped individuals through referrals to social service and aid agencies such as the Salvation Army, Open Pantry, Love Center, and Gray House for food, shelter, clothing, and other necessities.

Members organized a Speakers Bureau and sought opportunities to share their firsthand knowledge of living in poverty at conferences and meetings, and give testimony at legislative hearings.

Arise also facilitated support groups and workshops for parenting, empowerment, health, stress reduction, and skills building through its Self-Reliance Center (1992-), Homeless Action Center (1987-), and Myles Horton Free School (circa 1994-).

By the late 1980s Arise was also working on homelessness. Arise members served on various city committees and in coalitions working to provide more shelter beds; shelter for different populations (families, battered women); as well as a variety of services, benefits, and facilities to help the homeless find and keep permanent housing.

Arise members served on committees working to develop a Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) for Springfield in the early 1990s. The organization constantly explored a wide variety of alternatives, such as community land trusts, limited equity cooperatives, and AIDS housing. It also worked with public housing tenants to form tenant organizations through the Massachusetts Tenants Organization (MTO) and Massachusetts Union of Public Housing Tenants, and served as resources for tenants' rights. The organization advocated for a rent control initiative in Springfield in 1988-89, and to prevent the loss of "at-risk" (or expiring use) subsidized housing.

Beginning in 1992 Arise participated in a collective of non-profit organizations working to rehabilitate the Rainville Hotel at 32 Byers St. in Springfield, as a single-room occupancy (SRO) residence for single, low-income men and women. The collective consisted of Arise, Open Pantry, the Springfield Action Commission, Gandara Mental Health Center, the Housing Allowance Project, the South Middlesex Non-Profit Housing Corp., and the Community Builders. Arise later managed the building which not only provided housing, but a range of social services emphasizing self-help and mutual support. As part of this effort, Arise also established its Self-Reliance Center/Program to be a community-based economic development and homelessness support center for homeless, formerly homeless, and those at-risk of becoming homeless. The program fostered peer support, the development of organizational and leadership skills, and featured a skills exchange.

By 1993 Arise had also established a Hot Meals program for homeless families placed in motels, organized against one of Springfield's most negligent landlords, and registered more than 2,000 new voters.

Arise's involvement with the criminal justice system began when the organization agreed to employ individuals sentenced to do community service work in 1988. The membership has worked on issues related to police brutality, community policing, citizen review of police, criminal offender record information (CORI) regulations, prison conditions, mandatory minimum sentences, political prisoners, youth violence, and the death penalty.

Though access to health care is one of Arise's continuing long-term interests, the group participated especially vigorously in two events in the 1990s--debates related to President Clinton's proposed health care reform plan in 1993-94, and a Massachusetts public policy ballot referendum to establish a single-payer health care system in the state in 1994.

Other campaigns sought to increase the participation of low-income citizens on city-wide boards, and in the political process, especially through a campaign to replace the all at-large seats on City Council with a system including some ward representatives. Arise worked to defeat the Citizens for Limited Taxation ballot initiative in 1990 and participated in an especially extensive effort for voter registration and mobilization in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Beginning with the People's Quincentenary Celebration in 1992, Arise launched international Solidarity efforts including sending a delegation to Nicaragua in the fall 1996. They established close ties with the New England Central America Network (NECAN) to work on labor rights, environmental degradation, anti-imperialism and militarism, anti-apartheid advocacy.

In the late 1990s Arise joined the Economic Human Rights Campaign of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union of Philadelphia. The Campaign works "to unite the poor across color lines as the leadership base for a broad movement to abolish poverty," taking as its basis "economic human rights as named in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, such as the rights to food, housing, health, education, communication and a living wage job." 3

Arise began work on HIV/AIDS prevention, awareness, and care in the early 1990s. By 1997 they had developed a program, written a grant, and received funding from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's HIV/AIDS Bureau to establish and run an HIV/AIDS Education and Prevention Program. As with other Arise activities, the Program aimed to provide direct services (such as needle exchange, condom distribution, and health care information) and education aimed at prevention, while also working on larger societal issues. The Program funded establishment of a Sex Worker Outreach Team (SWOT) to promote self-protection among women engaged in, or at risk for being pushed to engage in, sex work in Springfield. SWOT aimed to "develop and share with Arise membership and the wider community a political-economic analysis of sex work and strategies for changing the social and economic conditions which push women into street sex work." The program, under the clinical supervision of Nancy Lyman-Shaver, included monthly individual sessions and group sessions.

In its second year, the group changed its name to Women in Support of Each Other (WISE) "to make ourselves more accessible sounding to women that do not identify with the title sex worker." The group distributed condoms, bleach and water kits, and educational materials. Its long-range goals included improved working conditions for club workers and decriminalization of prostitution, teaching self-advocacy skills, and providing space and resources to help break down barriers between women.

Arise worked with the Springfield Harm Reduction Coalition (ShaRC), the Springfield Users Council and the Springfield Alliance for Needle Exchange (SANE) to attempt implementation of a legal needle exchange program in city of Springfield.

In 2010 Arise listed its key issues and campaigns as economic justice (to make sure people on public assistance get their rights), "digital divide" computer education, free school education to empower individuals, and peace with solidarity and anti-violence work to educate the community about the waging of wars abroad.

As of 2011, Arise and its co-founder Michaelann Bewsee maintain blogs at the following URLs: Arise for Social Justice blogMichaelann Bewsee's blog

Notes 1. Grant proposal to the Haymarket Peoples Fund, 30 Dec 1985. 2. From "Excerpts from the Common Grant Application," circa 1996. 3. Mission statement of the Poor Peoples' Economic Human Rights Campaign.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Arise for Social Justice Records consist of 30.25 linear feet of materials dating from 1956 to 2010. Types of materials include brochures, conference files, correspondence, financial records, flyers, grant proposals and reports, minutes and agendas, speeches, organizations files, photographs, press releases, newsletters and other publications, reports, newspaper clippings, notes, surveys, training materials, subject files, and memorabilia. The bulk of the records date from 1985 to 2000. They provide a remarkably detailed record of the activities, decision-making processes, and political foundation of the organization and its work in coalition with regional, state, national, and international groups. In addition to materials documenting the work of Arise, the records contain a wealth of mailings, newsletters, and other resources produced by wide variety of organizations working for social and economic justice in late twentieth century America. Because Arise also served as an information clearinghouse, the records are rich with resource lists and reference files on a wide variety of subjects compiled to provide background information and serve as source materials for future activities. Major topics found in the records include criminal justice, economic justice, HIV/AIDS prevention, homelessness, housing, poverty, social justice, and welfare rights.

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Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into twenty-five series:

• I. ADMINISTRATION
• II. FINANCIAL MATERIALS
• III. CHILDREN AND YOUTH
• IV. CRIMINAL JUSTICE
• V. EDUCATION AND TRAINING
• VI. THE ELDERLY
• VII. ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
• VIII. FOOD AND HUNGER
• IX. HEALTH CARE
• X. HIV/AIDS PREVENTION AND EDUCATION
• XI. HOMELESSNESS
• XII. HOUSING
• XIII. IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES
• XIV. JOBS AND LABOR
• XV. PEACE
• XVI. PEER SUPPORT
• XVII. POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
• XVIII. POVERTY/ECONOMIC JUSTICE
• XVIX. RACISM
• XX. SOLIDARITY
• XXI. SPRINGFIELD AND PIONEER VALLEY
• XXII. SUBSTANCE ABUSE
• XXIII. VIOLENCE
• XXIV. WELFARE
• XXV. PHOTOGRAPHS AND MEMORABILIA
• OVERSIZE MATERIALS

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SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION (1980-2006, n.d) 3.75 linear ft.

This series provides an overview of the history and administrative structure of Arise for Social Justice, its Board of Directors, committees, and staff. The extensive minutes and reports are especially rich in detail about the workings of the organization. Notebooks, notes, and "to-do" lists kept by various Arise members give a good sense of the day-to-day workings of the organization. Events files document planning and arrangements for enrichment and fundraising events sponsored by the organization. Publications include general information brochures and flyers as well as newsletters and publications by the creative writing group. Arizine, the publication of the WISE (Women in Support of Each Other) group, can be found in SERIES X. HIV/AIDS PREVENTION AND EDUCATION.

SERIES II. FINANCIAL MATERIALS (1985-2006, n.d.) 1.25 linear ft.

This series contains some records of day-to-day financial business and record keeping, but is primarily related to fundraising. Included are general fundraising mailings as well as grant proposals and reports to foundations and other organizations. Grant-related records are a rich source for detailed descriptions of Arise and its programs and also give a sense of the foundations and organizations funding social justice work in the late-twentieth century.

SERIES III. CHILDREN AND YOUTH (1983-2003, n.d.) .5 linear ft.

Records in this series include extensive materials related to Arise's work to reform the Massachusetts Department of Social Services (DSS) and advocate on behalf of individuals dealing with the Department. There are also records of children's and youth groups within Arise, and advocacy materials related to legislation on a variety of related subjects such as child care and child abuse. Organizations files document Arise's work on strengthening family support mechanisms, preventing teenage pregnancy, and helping to provide employment for youth. Related materials can be found in SERIES IV. CRIMINAL JUSTICE and SERIES XXIII. VIOLENCE.

SERIES IV. CRIMINAL JUSTICE (1977-2005, n.d.) 1.5 linear ft.

Materials in this series document activities associated with creating an effective and responsible police force, police sensitivity training, crime legislation, prisons and prisoners' rights, alternatives to incarceration, anti-death penalty activism, political prisoners, youth violence, and gangs. Included are materials related to the Springfield, Massachusetts, police department, particularly police-community relations in light of controversial shootings and other incidents in the city. Also documented is Arise's program of advocacy on behalf of individuals within the criminal justice system. Grant proposals and reports in SERIES II. FINANCIAL MATERIALS contain additional materials about various Criminal Justice/Community Justice projects.

SERIES V. EDUCATION AND TRAINING (1973-2005, n.d.) .5 linear ft.

This series contains materials about classes, workshops, and training sessions presented by Arise for its members and the general public. Topics include building job skills, self-sufficiency, empowerment and leadership, and organization-building. There are also files on education and training groups and events run by other organizations in which Arise members participated. Reference files document a variety of educational issues and techniques. Grant proposals and reports in SERIES II. FINANCIAL MATERIALS contain additional information about the Myles Horton Free School. Related materials can also be found in SERIES XI. HOMELESSNESS, and SERIES XVI. PEER SUPPORT.

SERIES VI. THE ELDERLY (1983-2006, n.d.) .25 linear ft.

This small series consists primarily of reference materials on resources available to the elderly and on advocacy and service organizations working on elderly issues.

SERIES VII. ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE (1985-2006, n.d.) .25 linear ft.

Materials in this series document Arise's activities related to environmental and environmental justice issues at the local, national, and international level particularly those impacting low-income people.

SERIES VIII. FOOD AND HUNGER (1983-2004, n.d.) .5 linear ft.

This series documents a wide array of activities related to food and hunger, from a Community Garden Project and the establishment of an Arise Food Coop to provide nutritious and low-cost options for obtaining food, to a program to cook and deliver hot meals to homeless families temporarily housed in motels, to Food Stamp eligibility training and advocacy, to involvement with regional, state, and national organizations and campaigns working to address hunger in the United States. Grant proposals and reports in SERIES II. FINANCIAL MATERIALS contain additional information about the Food Coop and the Hot Meals Program. Related materials are in SERIES XXIV. WELFARE.

SERIES IX. HEALTH CARE (1985-2005, n.d.) 2 linear ft.

Health Care materials document Arise's early concerns about Medicaid access through statewide and national health care access campaigns in the middle 1990s. In addition to materials documenting Arise's Medicaid advocacy and training sessions, Arise members did research on Medicaid providers and private insurers in the Springfield area. The bulk of the records document mid-1990s work on universal health care campaigns at the national level and the Arise Health Care Access Campaign which advocated for a single-payer health care referendum question on the Massachusetts state ballot in 1994. Subject files document Arise's role as a clearinghouse for information about available health care, the insurance industry, and health care access legislation. Grant proposals and reports in SERIES II. FINANCIAL MATERIALS contain additional information about the Health Insurance Access Campaign (aka Arise Health Care Access Campaign).

SERIES X. HIV/AIDS PREVENTION AND EDUCATION (1986-2003, n.d.) 2 linear ft.

This series documents Arise's multi-faceted HIV/AIDS work, including efforts to establish a needle exchange program in the city of Springfield, the Sex Worker Outreach Project, and general educational efforts about HIV/AIDS. Included are extensive records of Arise's contract work for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and substantial reference files. Records related to Women in Support of Each Other (WISE) include notes on women's group meetings and issues of Arizine, the magazine published by WISE beginning in 1998. The bulk of the materials date from the late 1990s to 2003.

SERIES XI. HOMELESSNESS (1983-2006, n.d.) 1.75 linear ft.

Materials about Arise's work on homelessness include records of direct service initiatives such as Arise's Homeless Action Center, Homeless Support Group, Marsha's Apartment, and Hot Meals Program for homeless people housed in motels. There are also records of state and local committee, task force, and board work, and the organization of vigils, rallies, and other visibility campaigns, such as Sanctuary City (a warm weather "tent city" for homeless people), advocating for more shelter options and affordable housing in Springfield. The series also includes records of work in coalition with organizations such as the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless. Materials about shelters include a collection of shelter residents' accounts of violence and mistreatment by staff in these facilities. The content of this series is especially closely connected to materials in SERIES XII. HOUSING. Grant proposals and reports in SERIES II. FINANCIAL MATERIALS contain additional information about various projects. Other related materials can also be found in SERIES IX. HEALTH CARE, SERIES XVIII. POVERTY/ECONOMIC JUSTICE, and SERIES XXIV. WELFARE

SERIES XII. HOUSING (1956-2003, n.d.) 5 linear ft.

This series contains materials related to the development of affordable housing and preservation of existing subsidized units. It includes records of advocacy for legislation, work on committees and boards, as well as Arise's collaboration with Service Providers, Inc., to rehabilitate the Rainville Hotel into a single room occupancy residence with in-house support services. Files about the Rainville Hotel project include extensive research materials as well as funding and construction files. Materials in this series also document Arise's work to help meet the need for affordable and transitional housing alternatives suitable for different populations, such as single parent families, the disabled, and the elderly. There are also records of activities aimed at improvement of substandard conditions in private and public low-cost and subsidized housing and advocacy on behalf of tenants. These include work on a 1989 rent control initiative in Springfield, fact sheets and training sessions about tenants' rights, and records of efforts to organize tenants in public and private housing in collaboration with the Massachusetts Tenants Organization (MTO) and the Massachusetts Union of Public Housing Tenants. Materials in this series are especially closely related to those in SERIES XI. HOMELESSNESS. Grant proposals and reports in SERIES II. FINANCIAL MATERIALS contain additional information about various projects. Related materials can also be found in SERIES IX. HEALTH CARE, SERIES XVIII. POVERTY/ECONOMIC JUSTICE, and SERIES XXIV. WELFARE.

SERIES XIII. IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES (1985-2003, n.d.) .25 linear ft.

Materials in this small series primarily document organizations and legislation related to immigrant and refugee issues which intersect with Arise's social and economic justice activities.

SERIES XIV. JOBS AND LABOR (1983-1999, n.d.) .5 linear ft.

This small series contains records related to a Job Bank and the Arise Jobs and Skills Committee from the 1990s plus files related to workers' issues such as minimum wage and sexual harassment, as well as materials from state and national organizations seeking to refocus national priorities and advocate for social justice in the workplace. Related materials can be found in SERIES XI. HOMELESSNESS, SERIES XV. PEACE, SERIES XVIII. POVERTY/ECONOMIC JUSTICE, SERIES XX. SOLIDARITY, and SERIES XXIV. WELFARE.

SERIES XV. PEACE (1982-2005, n.d.) .25 linear ft.

Materials in this small series document Arise members' participation in demonstrations against the Gulf War and advocacy for a shift in federal budget priorities away from military and defense spending toward social and economic justice issues. Related materials can be found in SERIES XVIII. POVERTY/ECONOMIC JUSTICE, SERIES XX. SOLIDARITY, and SERIES XXIII. VIOLENCE.

SERIES XVI. PEER SUPPORT (1978-2000, n.d.) .5 linear ft.

Records in this series document Arise's advocacy training and services, support groups and services for the disabled, veterans, "moms in stress," and GLBT people. A significant portion of the materials are about Arise's Self-Reliance Center/Project which coordinated such things as skills, resources, and tool exchanges. Grant proposals and reports in SERIES II. FINANCIAL MATERIALS contain information about various peer support projects. Related materials can also be found in SERIES III. CHILDREN AND YOUTH, SERIES V. EDUCATION AND TRAINING, SERIES XI. HOMELESSNESS, and SERIES XII. HOUSING.

SERIES XVII. POLITICAL PARTICIPATION (1956-2005, n.d.) .75 linear ft.

Materials in this series primarily document work to increase political participation of low-income people through campaigns to register and mobilize voters and to change representation on the Springfield City Council from all at-large seats to some representation by ward. In addition there is information about a variety of third-party candidates and organizations working to reform the election process. Grant proposals and reports in SERIES II. FINANCIAL MATERIALS contain additional information about various projects. Related materials can be found in SERIES IX. HEALTH CARE.

SERIES XVIII. POVERTY/ECONOMIC JUSTICE (1977-2006, n.d.) 2.25 linear ft.

This series documents work at the core of Arise's mission from its founding. Included is Arise's early work with the statewide "Up to Poverty" campaign of late 1980s which sought to bring welfare benefits up to the federal poverty level. Other projects included early 1990s campaigns to prevent utilities from shutting off low-income customers who fell behind on paying their bills, compilation of a directory of social justice organizations in New England, and work toward a fair tax code, including efforts to defeat a the Citizens for Limited Taxation ballot initiative in Massachusetts in 1990. Arise also established a Speakers Bureau through which low-income people could speak for themselves, promoting self-esteem and educating the community at large to its common interest in social and economic justice. Speakers Bureau members presented testimony before the state legislature and its committees, spoke at rallies and vigils, to church and community groups and organizations, in classrooms at area colleges, and at conferences. The records in this series include detailed planning materials for a proposed New England People's Economic Summit in 1996 that was ultimately cancelled. There are also materials detailing Arise's participation in the Kensington Welfare Rights Union's Economic Human Rights Campaign which advocates for the economic human rights of housing, health care, a living wage job, and education as named in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. There are also files related to many organizations working on changing national budget priorities to address income disparity. There are also extensive reference files on subjects such as banking, the state and federal budget, community development, economic sustainability, and trade. Related materials can also be found in SERIES XI. HOMELESSNESS, SERIES XII. HOUSING, SERIES XV. PEACE, and SERIES XXIV. WELFARE.

SERIES XVIX. RACISM (1988-2005, n.d.) .25 linear ft.

This small series documents efforts to confront racism within Arise and collaborations with other Connecticut River Valley organizations seeking to address racism in the community.

SERIES XX. SOLIDARITY (1987-2002, n.d.) .75 linear ft.

Materials in this series document work aimed at the integration of issues and activities with low-income people outside of the U.S., particularly in central and south America, especially the effects of the U.S. lifestyle and standard of living on other people and places. Included are files related to hosting visits from Nicaraguan women and a return visit by Arise members to Nicaragua. Arise worked closely with the New England Central America Network (NECAN) for much of the 1990s and with other organizations such as the Western Massachusetts Coalition Against Apartheid, the Springfield Area Central America Project, the Central America Solidarity Association and the American Friends Service Committee. Files document rallies, vigils, and public education events, such as the People's Quincentenary Celebration 1992 which presented an alternative interpretation of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas. Grant proposals and reports in SERIES II. FINANCIAL MATERIALS contain additional information about various projects. Related materials can also be found in SERIES VII. ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE, SERIES XV. PEACE, and SERIES XVIII. POVERTY/ECONOMIC JUSTICE.

SERIES XXI. SPRINGFIELD AND PIONEER VALLEY (1984-2005, n.d.) .5 linear ft.

This series documents Arise's involvement with the local community as it advocated for low-income residents and sought funding, members, and partner organizations. Arise's wide-ranging mission and activities can be seen in the range of organizations represented, from churches to neighborhood councils, to NOW and the League of Women Voters, to Community Resources Against Community Killers (CRACK). The most extensive files in the series are those associated with Arise's role as a delegate agency for the Springfield Action Commission. Materials include correspondence, notes on meetings, newsletters, and clippings.

SERIES XXII. SUBSTANCE ABUSE (1985-2005, n.d.) .25 linear ft.

This small series contains materials about Arise members' participation in conferences and groups working on substance abuse issues. Related materials can be found in SERIES X. HIV/AIDS PREVENTION AND EDUCATION.

SERIES XXIII. VIOLENCE (1985-2006, n.d.) .5 linear ft.

Materials in this series are primarily related to violence against women. Included are reference files and resource materials about local organizations and services available to victims of sexual assault, and to battered women. Arise was especially active in the middle 1990s organizing a series of vigils in honor of women murdered by partners and ex-partners as well as training and events aimed at improving media coverage of domestic violence. Related materials can be found in SERIES III. CHILDREN AND YOUTH which contains materials about gang and youth violence, and SERIES IV. CRIMINAL JUSTICE.

SERIES XXIV. WELFARE (1984-2001, n.d.) 2.25 linear ft.

This series documents Arise's work related to the welfare system. Various federal and state social support programs are included, such as Food Stamps; Transitional Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); General Relief (GR); Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Children's Clothing Allowance, Emergency Assistance (EA); Chapter 707 Rental Assistance Program (707); Emergency Assistance to Elderly, Disabled, and Children (EAEDC); Supplemental Security Income (SSI); and Transitional Assistance to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC). From its early work to increase benefits in order to bring them up to the federal poverty level, through various state and national "reforms," Arise organized demonstrations, rallies, and speak outs, lobbied and testified at hearings, gathered petitions, participated in conferences and workshops, served as a general information resource, and provided training. Arise members served on state and local committees, discussion groups, and advisory boards, and cooperated with a wide variety of organizations working for the rights of welfare recipients, and to influence welfare policy and reform. The files are especially rich in fact sheets, reference, and training materials about the specifics of the various programs and the many changes to them through the 1980s and 1990s. They also reveal some of the ways groups sought to counter the prevailing narratives about welfare recipients, welfare fraud, and the efficacy of state and national welfare reforms, time limits, and welfare to work programs. Grant proposals and reports in SERIES II. FINANCIAL MATERIALS contain additional information about various projects. Additional materials about Food Stamps and WIC are in in SERIES VIII. FOOD AND HUNGER. Related materials can be found in SERIES XII. HOUSING, SERIES XI. HOMELESSNESS, and SERIES XVIII. POVERTY/ECONOMIC JUSTICE.

SERIES XXV. PHOTOGRAPHS AND MEMORABILIA .25 linear ft.

This series contains a small collection of photographs of Arise members and activities. Most are unlabeled and undated.

RESTRICTED MATERIALS (1985-2006, n.d.) 1.5 linear ft.

Restricted materials include information about Arise's financial donors; case files for individuals helped through Arise's Citizen Advocacy program; records on individuals who worked with Arise as part of their Community Service; and intake and referral forms for food, clothes, and shelter.

OVERSIZE MATERIALS (1989-2002, n.d.) .25 linear ft.

Oversize materials include posters, newsletters, clippings, and other materials.

SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION

SERIES II. FINANCIAL MATERIALS

SERIES III. CHILDREN AND YOUTH

SERIES IV. CRIMINAL JUSTICE

SERIES V. EDUCATION AND TRAINING

SERIES VI. ELDERLY

SERIES VII. ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

SERIES VIII. FOOD/HUNGER

SERIES IX. HEALTH CARE

SERIES X. HIV/AIDS PREVENTION AND EDUCATION

SERIES XI. HOMELESSNESS

SERIES XII. HOUSING