Empowering Youth, Ending Exploitation, Healing Communities
Welcome to Youth Rising-Up Initiative! We are dedicated to empowering youth and transforming communities through education and community building.
Our Mission
Our mission is to empower youth with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to recognize, resist, and combat human trafficking. By fostering resilience, positive relationships, and effective coping mechanisms through comprehensive, evidence-based education and community engagement, we equip youth to become catalysts for positive change. Together, we strive to create a safer environment and a future free from exploitation.
Our Vision
We envision a world where every young person is empowered through creative expression to create a future free from the grip of human trafficking. Through individual growth and community engagement, we aspire to cultivate a more compassionate society where every individual can safely reach their full potential and contribute to a better tomorrow.
Our Approach
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Trauma-informed facilitators lead our youth in a safe-space environment designed to challenge and support them.
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Participants engage in peer-to-peer exchanges, connecting through shared experiences and unique perspectives.
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We encourage creative expression through theater improv, role-playing, and cross-cultural storytelling to foster a sense of belonging among participants.
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Our program helps alleviate feelings of isolation and alienation, promoting personal growth and increased self-efficacy.
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Collaborative efforts among youth create a foundation for community, healing, and leadership development.
Tapping Into the Power of Youth
Transforming Untapped Potential into Agents of Change for a Brighter Future
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Untapped Potential
Inside of every youth resides a burning desire to discover their purpose, to bring about change, and build lasting relationships. Against this backdrop, we embrace the potential of youth dynamism by tapping into their innovative creativity and ambition for transformation. By supporting and trusting in their innate desire to learn, youth begin to flourish. When we take a strong interest in their dreams, they embrace self-reliance. When we show compassion and patience, they become more empathetic and understanding. And as we entrust them with difficult decisions, they develop into leaders.​​
Agents of Change
The future begins with these young leaders NOW, giving voice to their peers who are voiceless, and raising community awareness about the social injustices of human trafficking. Their passionate idealism, coupled with hope for a brighter future, inspires the ongoing advancement of innovative anti-trafficking strategies. ​​​​Armed with these new approaches, they educate friends and family, bringing awareness of traffickers’ strategies, and the personal agency to fend off their manipulations.​​​​
Brighter Future World
When we collectively recognize the potential of our youth and acknowledge their vision of a more just future, that calls for the restoration of individual dignity amongst diverse groups, we are compelled to join them on their journey. By validating their perspectives and fostering their unique skills, we become allies in bringing their vision of a world free from exploitation to life.
Dr. Mitch Peritz
Founder
Dr. Mitch Peritz, a recipient of the Mayor's Certificate of Recognition in New York City for his dedicated work with adolescents, has recently returned to his passion for youth engagement.
He graduated from the Master of Social Work program at Colorado State University, focusing on combatting human trafficking where he developed an innovative trafficking prevention program for youth, grounded in experiential learning through the creative arts.
With over 40 years of experience in the healing arts, including chiropractic and functional medicine, complemented by his trainings in Bioenergetics therapy and Jungian analysis, Dr. Peritz brings a fresh, integrated approach to creating a forum where adolescents are challenged to understand and combat human trafficking.