Always a people person, Vince Mans finds joy supporting team members as well as adults with disabilities in his administrative specialist role. A 20-year veteran, he began working for Rise in 1999 and has been at the Northeast Minneapolis location the entire time.
Before moving into his current job two-and-a-half
An energetic and active person, Michelle Thompson assists an average of 20 people who have mental health and cognitive barriers to obtain and maintain competitive employment.
In her role as an employment consultant at the Rise Lindstrom location, Michelle uses a strengths-based approach to support people in finding a job
After 25 years of working at Rise Anoka, Janine O’Connell has honed an impressive depth of skills. In fact, one might say that the direct support professional (DSP) lead has mastered the art of adaptability; a useful talent for someone who often serves in a float capacity. Janine’s primary responsibilities
With a passion for assisting people to become self-sufficient, LoWu Xiang is an MFIP case manager at Rise’s South Minneapolis location. For more than three years, LoWu has supported people, primarily refugees and immigrants new to this country, with their employment goals through orientation, career planning, job search, identifying other
Christel Pederson has had a strong desire to serve people and her community since childhood. In her role as a vocational evaluator at Rise, Christel does both as she assists individuals determine what kind of career path they might successfully take.
With a degree in community social services, this Minnesota
Dedicated, calm and caring are a few words that describe Rise Direct Support Professional Katie Whiteford — traits that the 18-year veteran has regularly applied to support an average of four to five people in the Data Ability program. Katie has had the unique privilege of working with the same
With an intuitive knack for understanding others, John Watters has built his 19-year career with Rise around seeing people for who they really are. As a program supervisor at Rise New Richmond, John leads a team of thirteen people, including nine direct support professionals and four drivers.
John’s primary responsibilities
At Rise, one of the crucial parts of our day-to-day functions is transporting more than 1,000 people from home to their work locations safely and without fail. For more than ten years, Tim Lynch has been on our team of professional drivers who collectively drive more than 2.5 million miles
At Rise, employment consultants have a big job. They work to familiarize themselves with people’s skills and connect them with employers so they can thrive in meaningful work. Tate Wegleitner is one of those consultants, acting as both a recruiter and as a resource for people with questions about the
Supporting others is at the very heart of who Lorrie Castillo is — and that’s why she loves her work as a direct support professional (DSP) at Rise. In this position, Lorrie works to help ensure that people served at Rise Cottage Grove have the services they need to achieve