1991 - Kristin (Sewell) Hodge attends a Women's Church Conference in Phoenix, AZ where she realizes her mission is to make an impact to those in the community that need real help. With this seed planted in her heart, her passion rises and her life changes forever.
1993 - Kristin begins her first company Heaven Sent Events Fundraising & Coordinating where she began coordinating events to raise money for non-profit organizations, churches and schools so they had the money they needed for their programs to flourish.
2012 -After nearly 20 years of community work for other organizations, Kristin started RISE & DREAM Foundation to make an impact in the lives of the families and children in our neighborhoods who truly are in need of help. It begins in her home and is privately funded through her and her family along with community supporters and the RISE Athletics program. The model: RESTORE, INVEST, STRENGTHEN and EMPOWER was formed and the work in the community of San Tan Valley, Queen Creek, and Florence began.
2014 -The RISE & DREAM Foundation grows by leaps and bounds in just two years to help over 120+ children and families in now 6 cities in the east valley that are in need throughout the year. RISE delivered food boxes, hygiene baskets and household items all year and the volunteer count for the Adopt-a-family program topped at 50. Scholarships $9,000 for 60 kids to play sports.
The Foundations work in the community reached levels we were so excited to see.
-250+ volunteers help accomplish these amazing projects.
One of our most exciting projects was the Christmas giving event called "Adopt a family for the Holidays". During this even we bring in local hairstylists/barbers to give families fresh haircuts, photographers to take family pictures, Lydian Dental gave the children screenings, fluoride treatments and treat 20 families in emergency dental situations, and provided a dinner by Buddyz Chicago Pizza and Port O' Subs. ​What a joy it was!
2018 has reached amazing numbers and made an incredible impact in the lives of so many children and families.
-6800+ meals were delivered through our Harvest for the Hungry program. In this project we feed children breakfast and lunch over the weekend by sending a food bag in a backpack for them to be discreet. Second, we partnered with 25 local restaurants to pick up their leftover food that is frozen each night and give to families directly.
- 7000+ articles of clothes, socks and shoes were given to children and families during our Back to School event and Adopt the Family For the Holidays projects.
-350+ volunteers help accomplish these amazing projects.
Future - expand our reach to make an impact from city to city in each state across the country. Build RISE Community Centers that would combine our efforts with the clothes/food pantry, our fitness and athletics programs, along with the computer labs and classes needed to help families reach higher and make it successfully on their own without resources. As of March 2019, we are serving 11 cities in Arizona: San Tan Valley, Florence, Coolidge, Queen Creek, Higley/Gilbert, Chandler, Mesa, Apache Junction, Tempe, Phoenix and Laveen.
Our goal is to partner with people and businesses that see the vision and want to serve their community or a community nearby that could benefit from their resources, time and talent.
Making an impact in others lives is like water to drink and air to breathe. I could not exist without air and water and I do not exist without giving back to those who need it most. I do not feel it's necessary to live in a shelter, low income housing or on the street to get help. It's about making an impact with people right where they stand in need - no judgement just love in action.
I spent 20+ years helping other organizations fulfill their mission, and the the vision was presented to me to focus specifically on certain types of resources for people in regular neighborhoods that don't always qualify for help but are in true need. I accepted the call and RISE and DREAM Foundation was founded.
What was shown to me was that the majority of people are one crisis away from loosing everything. I watched time after time, a family member go through a medical crisis or life situation and because of the loss of time on the job or a loss of job they had a hard time recovering and saving their family. So many times they lost their home and had to relocate. Kids would suffer with shoes that had holes and clothes that didn't fit, or would go hungry - minimal supplies to take care of their needs and the kids definitely couldn't participate with sports programs. They often times would come to the schools with their hair dirty and not being well cared for with hygiene. What I could see is the heart of the parents didn't want this, but they just couldn't recover and get their family to the next level.
So, I developed a mission with RISE to make an impact in the lives of families in our neighborhoods who need it most. Myself along with the board, staff, volunteers, partners and friends of RISE - We seek to INVEST, STRENGTHEN and RESTORE those families who need it most. Join us today!