Rising Against All Odds, Inc. and Chekesha Parker BIO
Rising Against All Odds Inc. (RAAO) is a Non-Profit Organization with a 501(C)3 status which was founded by Chekesha Parker. RAAO is an after-school program with a full day summer program set to open for operation on September 28, 2017. Our mission is to empower youth to successfully join society through engagement, development and enrichment services as they prepare to enter adulthood.
We have an extensive list of volunteers and interns which consist of doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, a bank representative from Citizens Bank, an EMT from Boston EMS, an attorney, a security officer who will enter the Police Academy in August of 2017 and several other prominent members of society. Also, we have a partnership with a financial consultant specializing in credit repair who owns a chain of institutions and has volunteered to work with RAAO, to teach a credit principles and practices, at an early age, to the students. The workshops will be extended to parents and guardians, pro bono.
We are all from the same communities that are plagued with drug abuse, violence and death. We seek to address the issues and are launching an intervention with the objective being connectedness and stabilization. Our knowledge, understanding and experience both professionally and personally set the precedence for success of this program. We are a team led by and on the background of the founder and CEO, Ms. Chekesha Parker, who became a direct care worker for The Department of Youth services (DYS) based on her former foster child status and real-life experiences withhaving went through the entire system has not only inspired but empowered her to lead the RAAO program. She is the exception to the rule.
Ms. Parker is a success story; and the result of everything that many young people are troubled by overturned. She is not the statistic that she was supposed to become. She is living proof that having life skills can connect one to positive outcomes. She grew up in foster care’ had her education disrupted; was delinquent; an out-cast and labeled.
What sustained her was the support from outreach workers who helped her; along the help of other mentors. The information and mentoring provided ultimately resonated and formulated positive life skills. Ms. Parker knows that what helped her is highly effective, when implemented efficiently, consistently and managed accordingly. She has a duty to extend her skills and strategies to help to prevent the failure of a population of young people who are next in line to run our communities. She believes that it is her obligation to reach in and give hope to those who can’t even grasp the concept of “rising against all odds”! Help us to rise together by helping and partnering with us!