named programs · 3 · from sources
What they call their work
Battle Ready Men
Mentoring program for adolescent boys focusing on personal development, academic achievement, responsibility, and leadership through structured discussions, cultural outings, and team-building activities.
Little Ladies of Promise
Mentoring program for adolescent girls aimed at building confidence, life skills, and leadership through workshops on mental health, fitness, vision boarding, and cultural education.
Rise Above Poverty Reading Clinic
Free literacy program providing individualized reading instruction for third to sixth graders in the Syracuse City School District to improve word recognition, fluency, and comprehension.
activities · 7 groups
What they do
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Public Awareness and Educational Outreach 1 activity
- Advocacy and public awareness on poverty and homelessnessRaises awareness about homelessness and poverty, particularly among youth in the Syracuse City School District, and engages the community in discussions to mobilize action around these issues.
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Volunteer Engagement and Capacity Support 1 activity
- Community engagement and volunteer coordinationEngages volunteers to support program operations, organizes inventory management activities, conducts school deliveries, and hosts events to support community engagement and programming across partner schools in Syracuse.
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Holiday and Seasonal Essentials Distribution 1 activity
- Distribution of hygiene and clothing items to students in povertyProvides basic necessities such as underwear, socks, soap, deodorant, feminine hygiene products, and winter coats to students in the Syracuse City School District. In 2025, distributed 11,945 hygiene and clothing items, including specific deliveries like 30 hoodies, 356 pairs of socks, and 450 feminine hygiene products at Henninger High School.
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Literacy Program Funding 1 activity
- Funding literacy programs through external grantsSecures and utilizes grant funding to support the Reading Clinic, including a $22,000 award from the BJ’s Charitable Foundation and funding from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation Youth Literacy Grant.
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Structured Literacy Instruction and Dyslexia Support 1 activity
- Literacy support through Reading Clinic programOffers free literacy tutoring to third- to sixth-grade students in the Syracuse City School District to improve word recognition, reading fluency, and comprehension. The Spring 2025 session served 7 children on its first day, with one session engaging 12 students and 10 volunteers in interactive activities.
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Youth One-on-One Mentoring 1 activity
- Mentoring programs for youthProvides structured mentorship to underserved youth, including the Battle Ready Men Mentoring program for boys and targeted programming for adolescent girls focused on life skills, confidence building, goal setting through vision board workshops, mental health, self-love, fitness (including Zumba), and cultural education outings.
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After-School Academic and Enrichment Programs 1 activity
- School-based program expansion and partnershipsExpanded services to multiple schools within the Syracuse City School District, initiating collaborations starting with Brighton Academy in September 2017 and adding Ed Smith Elementary School in 2018.
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financials · form 990EZ · fy2023
revenue
Total revenue$142K
Contributions & grants$139K98%
Program service revenue$00%
Investment income$3K2%
Other revenue$0
expenses
Total expenses$46K
Program expenses—
Admin / overhead—
Fundraising—
Salaries & benefits$13K
Grants paid out$0
balance sheet
Total assets$208K
Cash—
Investments—
Liabilities—
Net assets$208K
4 years on record · 2020–2023 · YoY revenue +75.9%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2023
Who runs it
paid leadership · 1
| Name | Title | Hours/wk | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reggie Kelley | Executive Director | 20 | $4K |
board members · 6
- Deidre Andrews — Director of Inventory
- Julie Tantalo — Director of Development
- Sandra Corriders — Director of Finance
- Tashika Lewis — Director of Youth Initiatives
- Troy Gray — Director of Programming
- Yolanda Curry — Director of Public Relations
relationships · 15
Who they work with
- BJ’s Charitable Foundation Funder — Provided a $22,000 grant to support the Reading Clinic’s efforts to help students achieve grade-level reading benchmarks.
- Brighton Academy Partner — First school collaborated with by RISE ABOVE POVERTY INC.
- Cut From A Different Cloth Partner — Partnered with the barber shop for a Career Day session where the owner shared his professional journey with mentees.
- Delaware Primary Partner — Provides support to students at Delaware Primary School facing homelessness and poverty.
- Dollar General Literacy Foundation Funder — Provided grant funding to support the Reading Clinic’s Fall Session.
- Dre’s Safe Place Partner — Hosted a mental health workshop for Little Ladies of Promise focused on self-love and emotional well-being.
- Ed Smith Elementary School Partner — Partner school where Rise Above Poverty delivers programming.
- Henninger High School Partner — School partner receiving hygiene and clothing support for students
- Kenyata Calloway Partner — Invited Little Ladies of Promise to the GEMS debutant ball and plans future collaboration.
- NewsChannel 9, WSYR-TV Partner — Collaborated through guest speaker Iris St. Meran, a news reporter, who read to students and engaged with them about media and education.
- Promising Futures Leadership Academy Partner — Partner school receiving distributions of personal care and clothing items
- Syracuse City School District Partner — Collaborates to deliver programs and services to students.
- Syracuse City School District Partner — Collaborates with the school district to identify and support homeless youth.
- Syracuse City School District Partner — Partnership with local schools to support students experiencing poverty.
- Westcott Community Center Partner — Hosts the Hygiene Collection Drive in partnership with Rise Above Poverty.
strategies · 4
How they approach the work
Named approaches extracted from this org’s sources. Where others share an approach, follow it to see the full set of orgs running it.
- Basic Needs Support for Academic Stabilitymethodology: basic-needs-support-for-academic-stabilityBy providing essential hygiene and clothing items to students experiencing poverty, we reduce stress and remove barriers to education, because meeting basic needs enables greater academic focus and school engagement.
- Community Engagement and Awareness Raisingmethodology: awareness-raisingBy using community engagement, education, and awareness-raising activities, we drive public action on poverty and homelessness, because increased understanding leads to behavioral change and community mobilization.
- Individualized Literacy Interventionmethodology: literacy_interventionBy delivering individualized, student-centered literacy instruction and modeling reading engagement, we improve reading skills and cultivate a love of reading, because tailored pedagogy and adult modeling address both skill and motivation gaps in struggling readers.
- Mentoring and Experiential Personal Developmentmethodology: mentoring-based_developmentBy using mentoring, personal development assignments, vision boards, and experiential emotional learning workshops, we foster goal-setting, accountability, and positive identity formation in youth, because structured self-reflection and relational support build internal assets necessary for long-term success.