Community Collaboration with RISE

RISE is the largest nonprofit organization in Nebraska focused solely on habilitative programming in prisons and reentry support. At RISE, transformation starts pre-release and continues post-release. Their inside/out model bridges incarceration to the community and considers all the critical steps in that journey. Join us after the film for a post screening panel discussion.

About the Panelists

Maeve Hemmer (she/her) is a University of Nebraska Omaha graduate who studied political science with minors in human rights and criminal justice. Maeve has a passion and vision for helping our community deliver transformative justice that supports people toward achieving and maintaining holistic well-being. She plans to attend law school and ultimately use her education and experiences to solve issues impacting Nebraskans. Maeve will be moderating the discussion.

Aaron Pettes, father, minister, author, husband. After spending 22 of the last 26 years incarcerated, Aaron has stepped “outside the walls” and made an impact in his community in various ways. He is currently working as a Prison Program Associate with the nonprofit organization Rise; where he reenters the prison system to teach classes. He also leads a team that provides religious services into multiple institutions. You can find 2 books he has published on Amazon and look for his third book, a biography, to drop this winter.

Angie Jaeger’s husband has been incarcerated since 2019, hopefully to be paroled in February of 2024. They’ve been married for 28 years and have 2 sons—both of whom were teenagers when their father was incarcerated. Angie became connected with RISE through the Family Program after her husband graduated from the in-prison program in August of 2021. After building a relationship with the former Director of Family Program, Angie eventually started coming to the monthly coffee hours in Omaha and discovered how warm and welcoming the group was. In the fall, her husband was moved to work release and became eligible for community programs and furloughs. By December, the timing was right for them to start the family program together, and they completed the program in October of 2023.

Kalia Miller is a 2023 Graduate of RISE Business Academy

Synopsis of the Film

Entrepreneur Fox Rich spends the last two decades campaigning for the release of her husband, Rob G. Rich, who is serving a 60-year prison sentence for a robbery they both committed in the early 1990s in a moment of desperation.