Rise
A church-anchored pilot for economic mobility in Orlando.
Rise brings together the systems behind Multiply, Dream Chaser Kids, Community Playbook, and The Immerse Project to help adults in under-resourced zip codes move toward better work, stronger income, and greater family stability.
The goal is not just to run a program—it's to produce measurable outcomes, compelling case studies, and a model that can attract serious long-term investment.
Why Rise Exists
The assets are already there.
They just aren't organized.
Many adults in high-need zip codes are surrounded by talent, buildings, and good intentions—but still lack clear pathways to better work, practical support, and trusted relationships that can help them move forward.
Rise is built around a simple conviction: local churches already carry underused assets that can be organized for economic mobility. Skilled members, trusted leaders, familiar buildings, and neighborhood relationships can become the foundation for a more accessible, more relational, and more accountable pathway into work, entrepreneurship, and long-term stability.
Church-rooted trust
Not transactional enrollment. The cohort begins inside relationships that already exist in the neighborhood.
Visible outcomes, not attendance
Learners leave with portfolios, credentials, or a documented next step. Completion is defined by evidence of growth.
Place-based, not generic
Focused on specific Orlando zip codes—not a scalable product seeking any audience, but a local model built for a real context.
A tested ecosystem, not a new idea
Rise draws on systems already proven across discipleship, youth development, community planning, and pastoral formation.
The Research Questions
What Rise is designed to test.
Rise is structured as a pilot—which means it is designed to generate answers, not just activity.
01
Can churches serve as trusted learning hubs?
Whether local churches can function as credible, accessible hosts for workforce and entrepreneurship pathways—not just as referral points, but as the actual infrastructure.
02
Can short cohorts produce visible, fundable outcomes?
Whether six-week, high-accountability experiences can produce portfolio projects, credential completions, business launches, or documented income gains—proof, not participation.
03
Can this model complement public workforce systems?
Whether a church-based approach can activate assets that existing workforce programs cannot easily reach: neighborhood trust, relational accountability, and underused space and expertise.
How Cohort Tracks Are Chosen
Tracks emerge from listening.
Not the other way around.
Most programs decide what to teach, then recruit learners. Rise inverts that. Before any cohort is announced, we're running three parallel listening processes — asking the community what they need, asking church members and local experts what they can teach, and asking employers what they're actually hiring for. Tracks form at the intersection of all three.
The public data gives us a starting frame. The listening tells us where it actually fits.
Orlando's fastest-growing sectors — healthcare, skilled trades, AI-adjacent roles, financial services — are the backdrop. What neighbors say they want, what church members can teach, and what employers will actually hire for shapes everything else.
Community Listening Card
What do neighbors actually need?
Four anonymous questions about where people are working, where they want to go, what gets in the way, and whether they'd show up. Shared across 32839, 32805, and 32808.
Congregation Expert Inventory
Who inside local churches can teach it?
A raise-your-hand form for church members and community experts. Captures skill area, teaching vs. mentoring preference, and availability. Pastors share it internally.
Employer Listening Card
What are employers actually hiring for?
Three questions for targeted employers in healthcare, trades, tech, and financial services — plus one specific ask: what would you commit to for a graduate who meets your bar?
What happens when listening closes?
Once we have enough signal across all three tools, we synthesize what we heard and map it against what Orlando's labor market data already shows us. Cohort tracks — and the timeline to launch — are announced publicly on this page and the community listening card. Everyone who responded gets to see what their input produced.
Defining Success
What the first pilot needs to prove.
Rise version one will be considered successful if it demonstrates three things clearly enough to justify deeper investment and wider replication.
Learners complete and leave with evidence
Not attendance certificates—portfolios, credentials, interview results, or a documented business or employment next step.
Churches demonstrate what they can activate
That underused space, skilled congregants, and trusted leadership can be converted into real community-facing economic pathways—not just events.
The model earns serious consideration
That public leaders, employers, and funders can look at what happened and see a credible, local model worthy of backing at a larger scale.
The Longer Arc
From Orlando pilot to repeatable model.
Rise begins as a local pilot, but the long-term vision is larger: a repeatable, church-anchored model that helps communities move from scattered goodwill to coordinated pathways for work, agency, stability, and neighborhood flourishing.
The immediate goal is simple: prove what is possible in a few Orlando zip codes, document it carefully, and build something worthy of trust, replication, and deeper investment.
Systems Powering Rise
What Partnership Can Look Like
Rise is looking for partners who can strengthen the model without overcomplicating the launch.
Funders
Support accessibility through scholarship funding, evaluation investment, and story capture. Follow-on investment available if early outcomes are strong.
Public Leaders
Provide guidance, visibility, and connections to existing workforce and neighborhood initiatives so the pilot supports what is already working—not around it.
Pastors & Churches
Host cohorts, identify skilled members who can teach or mentor, provide hospitality or childcare, and help recruit learners from the surrounding neighborhood.
Employers & Sponsors
Sponsor a cohort, offer mock interviews or job shadows, attend the capstone, or create practical next-step opportunities for learners who complete the pilot.
The Pilot in Detail
Specific geography. Real timeline.
Measurable targets.
This is not a concept in search of a location. Rise has a confirmed host site, defined zip codes, and a cost structure that compares favorably with every alternative.
Geography
Orlando, FL — Three Target Zip Codes
Timeline
Spring–Summer 2026
Investment Case
$30,000–$35,000 total pilot budget
Targeting 36–45 adults across three cohorts
Approximately 6–8× more cost-effective than comparable public programs—before accounting for church in-kind contributions.
Three Cohort Example Tracks
Online · 12–15 Learners
Format ASoftware & Tech Fundamentals
6 weeks, one live session per week plus async work. Built for working adults across multiple zip codes with reliable internet access.
Portfolio: deployed project + GitHub repo
Hybrid · 12–15 Learners
Format BSmall Business & Entrepreneurship Lab
6 weeks, 2 in-person sessions (Weeks 1 & 6) plus 4 online sessions. Built for caregivers and shift workers needing flexibility with relational touchpoints.
Portfolio: business plan + first paying customer
In-Person · 12–15 Learners
Format CTrades Fundamentals or Financial Literacy
6 weeks, weekly sessions at Washington Shores Church of Christ. Childcare and meals provided. Built for learners with low digital confidence or unstable housing.
Portfolio: certification + work sample or asset plan
Targets We're Holding Ourselves To
60%+
Completion rate — all 6 weeks finished and presented at capstone
100%
Portfolio attainment — every completer leaves with tangible proof of learning
40%+
Job placement or income increase within 3–6 months of completing the cohort
3–5
Written case studies with video testimonials — the evidence base for Year 2 investment
Next Step
Interested in exploring Rise for your church,
district, business, or community?
The pilot is in formation. Conversations with the right partners—those who understand the long horizon—are how this gets built well.
Want context first? See the broader body of work →