UpRise Nashville

What Is UpRise Nashville?

Housed at West End Community Church, UpRise Nashville launched eight years ago with a mission to help people who are unemployed or underemployed move into careers with upward mobility and to alleviate generational poverty.

Many of those served by UpRise face barriers to employment or lack a support system. About 28% are justice-impacted, 27% are navigating substance use and recovery, and 65% report mental health challenges.

They just need guidance and someone to give them a chance. That’s where UpRise comes in, said Carole Peterson, the program’s Executive Director.

Peterson spent 10 years as a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, where she said she saw the “opportunity divide” from both sides.

“I saw really capable, smart people who just lacked options and lacked opportunity and lacked hope,” she said. “A mentor of mine always says, ‘A lot of us are on third base, and we think it’s because we’ve hit a triple’ when in reality we’ve had parents and teachers and friends and other people surround us and help us on our journey.”

Through personal development and skills training, UpRise opens doors for those who have been overlooked.

“We like to say that we get to unlock potential that already exists in people,” Peterson said.

UpRise Training Camp

After being accepted into UpRise, participants — or “leaders” as they’re called because they lead their own change — attend a five-week training camp. There they learn valuable workplace skills such as time management, professionalism, and digital literacy.

Leaders also write resumes and cover letters. They craft an elevator pitch, learning how to talk about themselves in a succinct and positive way. With the help of employer partners and volunteers, or “allies,” leaders are put to the test through networking and mock interviews.

At training camp, leaders also work with their career coaches, who help them develop a road map tailored to their needs and goals. They hear from UpRise alumni, who return to offer advice and answer questions.

At the heart of training camp is relationship building. Leaders learn to lean on one another.

“By the end of the first week, nobody’s taking the bus. They’re all giving each other rides. They watch each other’s kids when they go have interviews,” Peterson said. “It’s a real community of people who are encouraging and uplifting each other.”

Leaders are held accountable. They must meet attendance requirements and other program metrics. A class might start with over 60 leaders but end with 50.

Demand has skyrocketed in the past 18 months, Peterson said. Nearly 2,100 people reached out to UpRise last year for just 150 spots.

Education and Certification

While leaders are in training camp and working with their career coaches, they choose a career track. UpRise offers several high-demand positions, including:

• Certified Nursing Assistant
• Clinical Medical Assistant
• Patient Care Technician
• Pharmacy Technician
• Dental Assistant
• Commercial Driver’s License
• Medical Office Administrative Assistant
• Microsoft Office Specialist

Trades apprenticeships are also available in HVAC, electrical, and construction. UpRise sends leaders interested in these fields to employer partners such as Lee Company and Stansell Electric.

Depending on the track they select, leaders can complete their education and certification in as few as four weeks. Other tracks can take up to 16 weeks.

For Harris, who had long dreamed of becoming a nurse, the Clinical Medical Assistant track was a perfect fit.

While she had lacked confidence and often sat quietly in the back of the room during training camp, by the halfway point of her medical training, Harris had found her voice and a field she excelled in, Peterson said.  

Now Harris works at Ascension Saint Thomas and hopes to become a Registered Nurse or Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist.

“I like the environment, I have great co-workers, I work under the coolest physician and, most importantly, it’s what I want to do,” Harris said. “No day feels like work, honestly."

An UpRise Nashville graduate, LaJonda Harris works as a Medical Assistant at Ascension Saint Thomas.

Launching a Career

After leaders have completed training camp and earned their certification, their next step is to work with their coaches to apply for jobs and find meaningful employment.

While UpRise often calls on employer partners such as Ascension Saint Thomas or Vanderbilt University Medical Center, there is no obligation for a partner to hire a leader. UpRise also isn’t required to make a referral.

“We really want our leaders to be the kind of people that can compete with any applicant,” Peterson said.  

For employers who take a chance on a leader, they’re gaining a valuable team member who has been pre-screened, drug-tested, and is ready to step into the job, said Al Brady, UpRise’s Director of Admission and Recruiting.

"Employers are getting someone who's excited, who's been vetted, where you can see the last four to six months of data about an employee, and they come equipped for the first six months with a coach," he said.

For leaders, that new job can be a game-changer, providing stability and restoring dignity.

On average, leaders make $17,500 annually when they enter the UpRise program. After they graduate, they earn a little over $45,000 in their first year — an increase of more than 150%.

“We say our ultimate (key performance indicator) is to get a job, to launch a career, but it is about so much more than that,” Peterson said.

“We have leaders move their families out of housing projects and into apartments where they can be safe and where their kids can play in the front yard. We have had people who have taken the bus now be able to get a car and drive and not have to spend hours on the bus every day.

“And so it’s emotional ways and it’s really tangible ways where we have just seen lives change.”

Brady celebrates every time a life is changed. He ordered a gong that is struck whenever a leader lands a job.

“It starts with us five weeks in that camp,” he said. “Starting your training and interviewing and getting the first job, they’re able to transform everything.”

Al Brady, right, is the Director of Admission and Recruiting at UpRise Nashville.