Franklin County has ended its contract with RISE Together Innovation Institute, the nonprofit that county commissioners created to tackle poverty and structural racism.
The nonprofit's five employees are expected to stop working by Aug. 21. County spokesperson Molly Thrasher confirmed that the county is absorbing some of RISE's operations and contracts this week.
Commissioners created RISE in 2020 after a year-long task force looked at options for addressing poverty in the community the prior year.
County Administrator Kenneth Wilson said RISE was meant to be unlike any other organization in the county at the time.
"It would not compete against our non-profit partners, but it would be a place where big ideas could be formulated and executed upon in a more efficient and effective manner than (is) sometimes the speed of government," Wilson said.
Franklin County Commissioner Kevin Boyce, who first pitched the RISE Together initiative, admitted that the center didn't produce the intended results.
"We just weren't seeing the kind of results in movement and action where we could expect real outcomes that impact families in a positive way," Boyce said.
"Sometimes an idea we conjured up years ago doesn't fit the current landscape."- Franklin County Commissioner Kevin Boyce
The county gave about $4.9 million to RISE over the years. Wilson said the nonprofit was not good at independently raising funds from donors.
RISE Together hosted several summits and created a few pilot programs for universal basic income. It also released annual snapshots of poverty in the county starting in 2023.
Boyce said he had "mixed feelings" about the organization's results. RISE formed around the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and tried to get moving around the time of the George Floyd protests.
"I think a lot of those factors slowed things down in the economy, so I don't think we got off to a lightning rod's pace," Boyce said. "It probably took longer than it should have."
Boyce said he felt the organization had begun to turn the corner, and he's "disappointed" that RISE is being dissolved.
"I wouldn't give them an A plus over the last couple of years, but I wouldn't give them a D or an F like maybe some others would," Boyce said.
As the county looks to tighten its belt, however, Boyce said commissioners agreed something had to change. Wilson expects the county will save money by ending its contract with RISE and folding parts of its services into the county offices.
Boyce said the county isn't stopping its strategy to curb poverty, rather it's trying to "repurpose the drive and the conversation" to address the issue internally.
"Sometimes an idea we conjured up years ago doesn't fit the current landscape," Boyce said. "Things have changed, and now we'll take a step back and hopefully take two steps forward later."
