ABOUT RISE CAM
Creativity. Connection. Confidence.
Rise CAM started with a simple idea: creativity should be something everyone has the opportunity to experience.
Creative Arts & Media is about much more than filling a schedule with activities. It is about creating spaces where people can try something they may have never tried before, discover something they didn’t know they enjoyed, share an idea, take a chance, work with someone new, or simply have a moment where they can say, “I did that.”
Every week looks different. One day we might be producing music, competing in a game show, or stepping in front of a camera. Another day might involve paint, science experiments, building challenges, filmmaking, theater, or turning an idea that sounded a little crazy at first into something real.
That variety is intentional.
Not everyone expresses themselves the same way. Some people want the microphone. Some would rather be behind the camera. Someone else may love building something with their hands, solving a problem with their team, editing a video, painting, acting, or just being the person who comes up with the idea nobody else thought of.
Rise CAM is meant to make room for all of them.
MORE THAN AN ACTIVITY
There is always something happening underneath the fun.
A music challenge can become an opportunity to communicate and make decisions with a group. A painting project can become an exercise in independence and self-expression. Building a bridge can turn into problem-solving, patience, and teamwork. Performing can become an opportunity for someone to discover confidence they didn’t know they had.
Sometimes the finished product is incredible. Sometimes the experiment doesn’t work. Sometimes the performance doesn’t go exactly as planned.
All of those moments have value.
Because the goal isn’t perfection. The goal is participation, discovery, connection, creativity, and giving people the opportunity to be proud of what they contributed.
THE PERSON BEHIND CAM
Crystal “Mookie”
Creative Arts & Media Program Facilitator
Hi, I’m Crystal, but around Rise, most people know me as Mookie.
Creativity has always meant more to me than simply making something that looks or sounds good. I love the process of taking an idea—sometimes one that starts out completely random—and figuring out how to turn it into an experience that people can actually be part of.
That’s a huge part of how I approach Rise CAM.
I don’t want participants to feel like they’re just showing up to something I’ve already created for them. I want them involved in it. I want their choices, personalities, ideas, humor, talents, and even their unexpected moments to help shape what CAM becomes.
One of my favorite things about Rise CAM is seeing that creativity bring people together from across Rise Life Services. Participants from different programs get opportunities to create together, compete together, perform together, encourage each other, and build relationships with people outside of those they may see every day.
Over time, activities become memories. Projects become conversations. Familiar faces become friendships. Something that started as an activity on the calendar can become something people genuinely look forward to.
And I never want someone to believe they have to be the best singer, artist, actor, builder, or performer in the room to belong here. Sometimes confidence starts with simply being willing to try.
Some of my favorite moments aren’t necessarily the biggest performances or the finished projects. They’re seeing someone volunteer who normally wouldn’t. Hearing participants encourage each other. Watching somebody realize they’re actually good at something they had never tried. Or seeing an idea we talked about eventually become something everyone can experience together.
Those are the moments that make Rise CAM what it is.