At nVent, supporting our communities is part of our culture and our values. This year, the nVent Foundation recommitted to its ongoing support of Rise, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people with disabilities and other challenges find success in life. For the last four decades, a group of Rise employees has worked at the nVent facility in Anoka, Minn through Rise’s community-based jobs program. nVent is Rise’s largest work site as well as its longest-tenured.

Rise offers employment services with varying levels of independence and community-integration. People are encouraged to move towards greater independence, with Rise staff helping them set goals that align with their interests.

Over the next year, Rise will use a $65,000 grant from the nVent Foundation to develop, implement, optimize and scale its new Employment Exploration and Planning Services Program. The goal of the program is to guide people with disabilities and their families through a supported decision-making process that will help them develop employment-related goals and create a plan for reaching them. At the end of the process, the participant will be referred to the Rise program that best fits their individual goals.

The Employment Exploration and Planning Services program is expected to assist hundreds of Rise clients transition from center-based employment where clients work onsite with Rise, to community-based jobs at companies across the Twin Cities.

Rise has been a mainstay in the Minnesota community for decades. Founded in 1971 in Anoka County, Rise now serves more than 3,000 people statewide across 26 sites. In addition to center-based and community-based job placement, Rise offers in-person and remote day services for people with disabilities. Remote options allow access to programming for people who were previously excluded due to geographic barriers or medical vulnerabilities.