History

The seeds for Rise, Inc. were sown by Chester Tollefson of Anoka whose son Loring was born in 1955 with developmental disabilities. He mused, “Wouldn’t it be great if…?!”

Wouldn’t it be great if Loring could go to work when he was finished with public schooling? Wouldn’t it be great if others like him in this area could experience how good it feels to put in an honest day’s labor and earn an honest day’s pay? Wouldn’t it be great if the services and programs were in place to help people like Loring reach their own personal potential and really become active, contributing members of this community? Wouldn’t it be great…

In the late 1960s, Minnesota law provided special education until the age of 18 for students who had disabilities. Tollefson knew that when his son finished school, his choices would be limited: Loring could stay home all day; he could be institutionalized; or he could be involved in a sheltered workshop where men and women with disabilities worked primarily on production-type jobs.

Tollefson was determined to make a future for his son and others. A gregarious man devoted to his convictions, he probably didn’t stop to think what an enormous task he was undertaking. Admittedly, Tollefson didn’t really know where to start so he called other parents as well as community leaders, hoping to get them fired up about what he referred to as a “little project.” Would they be willing to help?

Not surprising, many people were. And on August 2, 1971, Rise opened its doors for business with four trainees who had developmental disabilities and two trainers.

From that day forward another 38-plus years, Rise has continued to expand to offer more than 40 innovative and results-oriented programs. They were developed in direct response to the expressed needs of a wide range of disability groups (i.e., people who have dual sensory — blind and deaf — impairments, traumatic brain injuries, mental health disabilities, students in high school special education programs, etc.) as well as those who have other barriers to employment, specifically people moving from welfare to work who are refugees and immigrants. Their employment challenges often include language, cultural differences, lack of transferable work skills, lack of education, etc.

Rise has also expanded its programs beyond our original Anoka County area headquarters in Spring Lake Park. Today we have 20 office facilities serving people in the Twin Cities metropolitan area as well as the East Central and Central Minnesota areas. Our staff size has grown from 2 to more than 350 professional employees. Our original headquarters in Spring Lake Park (shown here) has been added onto many times to accommodate our growing staff, services, and program participants.

We at Rise are committed to ensuring that just as Chester Tollefson envisioned, people with disabilities become active, contributing members of this community and realize their own personal goals of vocational achievement.