RISE: Healthy for Life

09/04/2026

MSW Student Sarah White making a difference!

RISE: Healthy for Life explores how s*xual health education can better serve youth/young adults with visible & invisible disabilities, chronic illness, neurodivergence, & other health differences. They know this population, as well as their partners and caregivers, need enhanced s*xual health education, While s*xual health education exists, it is rarely designed with disability, adaptation, or changing bodies in mind.

Cindi Huss, Rebecca Pearson, and Sarah White will use published research as well as input from folx with disabilities to determine innovative ways to provide needed information, affirmation, and connection.

Made possible with technical assistance and funding from Healthy Teen Network’s In/Tend Incubator.

09/01/2026

Day one of our first In/Tend cohort meeting in Denver! We are tackling the intersection of s*x and disability. Thanks Healthy Teen Network !
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08/21/2026

Did you know? 💜

If you or someone you know has experienced s*xual assault, you don’t have to navigate the next steps alone.

📞 You can call the hotline on the flyer to be connected directly with a s*xual assault advocate or speak with a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE).

✨ No ER waiting room required.
✨ Free and confidential.
✨ A SANE nurse can meet you at a local hospital (or our Branch House facility) and provide a specialized s*xual assault exam and support.

You deserve to be heard, supported, and treated with dignity. You are not alone. 💜

Please save this information and share it—someone you know may need it someday.

08/20/2026

So excited for Pharrin Clarida (MPH student), RISE’s current intern and ETSU Elevates partner! She recorded the promo video for Raising Resilience today! MARK YOUR CALENDAR to attend the ETSU Elevates pitch event OCT 5 at the MARTIN CENTER. Light refreshments at 5, pitch begins at 5:30. Hear how ETSU students want to make a difference in our community and cast your votes to support them. (We recommend supporting Pharrin!)

08/19/2026

07/28/2026

07/24/2026

Nationwide, including all across the South – it is legal and possible
for transgender adults to access gender-affirming care. However,
anti-transgender organizations and political actors have made
no secret of their agenda to restrict – and ultimately, attempt to
ban – gender-affirming care for transgender adults. In 2026, we’re
seeing the clearest indications yet of how this agenda is impacting
access to care for transgender adults across the South and
gaining momentum on the policy and practical levels.

This community advisory widens the aperture of our analysis
from tracking isolated developments in specific communities
to focus on the totality and impact of attacks on access across
the South. It provides updates about adult gender-affirming care
access in the South and resources for those seeking care in the
following Southern states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

07/19/2026

Washington, D.C. – A coalition of organizations and local governments filed a lawsuit today in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia challenging the Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful…