Inspired by faith to help others

"Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”
– Matthew 25:40

By Christina Galeone
CFP Correspondent
“Growing up and today, I often hear Matthew 25:40 echoing in my mind and heart,” said Sarah Baldiga, the co-founder and executive director of Rise Above, a nonprofit serving children in foster care. “I try to do my work in a way that children and families experience joy, hope and Christ through Rise Above.”
Founded in 2009, Rise Above is a Northbridge-based nonprofit that has served more than 7,500 kids since it began. On its website, www.weriseabove.org, the nonprofit states that it’s “dedicated to providing Massachusetts children in foster care with enriching activities, opportunities and experiences.” Ms. Baldiga said, “We do that by funding individual requests for music lessons, team sports fees, dance lessons, amusement park tickets, prom expenses, bikes, laptops and more.”
A parishioner of St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish in Upton, Ms. Baldiga received her bachelor’s degree from St. Anselm College, where she majored in sociology with a certificate in Catholic studies. She also has a master’s degree in nonprofit management from Worcester State College. But she discovered her calling when she was a teenager attending Holy Angels Church (now St. Gabriel’s). 
She’s grateful that her parents instilled in her and her siblings the need to help people who were less fortunate.
“These are lessons that were reinforced by our upbringing at Holy Angels … and our incredible pastor, Father Larry Brault, and where I was first drawn to Catholic social teaching and the preferential option for the poor,” Ms. Baldiga recalled. “Growing up, I was very active in parish ministries, including choir, retreat team and as an altar server, but there were two experiences that stand out to me in my high school years that helped me discover my calling to dedicate my career to helping those in need.”
The first experience was being a member of the church’s Peace & Social Justice Ministry under the leadership of Sue Malone, who, she said, inspired a fire within her to “fight for those who could not.”
“I think that’s why when I first heard about the diocese’s twinning program with the Diocese of Les Cayes, Haiti, I was ready to hop on a plane to go!” Ms. Baldiga credits the Haiti mission trip as being the second experience.
“I was 18 when I made my first trip of four to Haiti in 2001 and helped establish Holy Angel’s twinning relationship with St. Anne’s in Sucrerie Henry,” she said.    
Those experiences helped prepare her to take on the responsibility of co-founding Rise Above with two others asked her to join them. She was also prepared to help the nonprofit continue to flourish during these challenging times. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Rise Above received about twice as many requests for assistance as it normally does. In 2020, it purchased more than $175,000 in items, such as laptops, basketball hoops and craft kits, to help kids stay connected and healthy. And it’s partnering with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families to build a playground at the DCF Worcester branch this summer.    
“Youth enter the foster care system for a variety of reasons, but most youth have been the victims of abuse or neglect,” Ms. Baldiga explained. She added, “Too many youth in foster care miss out on activities like team sports, after-school art classes, school field trips and proms, which are activities that could help them adjust to a new community, heal from their past trauma, and help them feel like a normal kid. I helped start Rise Above to give kids in foster care the same access to enriching activities and experiences that their peers have.” 
Ms. Baldiga noted that there are thousands of children in foster care in Central Massachusetts.  While Rise Above is seeking more support for its College Care Packages program, which benefits students who grew up in foster care, she said that there are a lot of ways that the Church and the community can support the kids and their families.
“From being called to be a foster parent to supporting foster families in our parishes to donating to organizations like Rise Above, we can help support our community’s children,” she said.
Ultimately, Ms. Baldiga said that it’s her faith that guides her to help build the Kingdom of God here on Earth.
“To speak for those who cannot, to alleviate suffering, to treat others as Christ,” she shared. “My faith sustains me, especially when I’m feeling discouraged or overwhelmed by the great needs of our world. As Bishop Ken Untener wrote in his prayer ‘A Future Not our Own,’‘It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest … We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future that is not our own.’”