RiseUp! Poetry Project

James Elsaesser has facilitated poetry workshops at Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault Intervention Services (DASI), in Newton, NJ, since 2015.

In 2017, through a seed grant provided by The Institute for Poetic Medicine, the RiseUp! Poetry Project was created. Since then, the NJ Department of Criminal Justice, working with DASI, funded RiseUp!.

Prosline Saint-Armand, Coordinator of Counseling at DASI, serves as co-facilitator. RiseUp! meets weekly. RiseUp! poets have spoken at numerous public events and has completed their third anthology of original, healing poetry, titled, Leaves. The poets of RiseUp! are important voices in their community, as they continue to speak up and speak out in the cause to end sexual and domestic violence.