Each year, FSRI gathers more than 500 leaders from across the state for a one hour luncheon to honor a visionary advancing children’s health and wellness – as well as to help RI kids have better, brighter futures.
This year, FSRI is celebrating the 20th year of our Go-Team program that was formed in 2004 from the collaboration of Providence Police Chief Colonel Esserman and FSRI’s CEO Margaret Holland McDuff. Through this program, FSRI’s trauma-trained experts are deployed with law enforcement on patrols each day, serving communities across the state. These “Go Teams” provide both police response and psychological first aid – offering immediate on-scene crisis intervention, compassionate assistance and language support. The Go Team regularly responds to reports of sexual assault, human trafficking, homicide, suicide, domestic violence, child maltreatment, and other various forms of violent crime. They respond both to individual and family crises – addressing both the trauma and behavioral issues that often spiral out of control in the wake of violence.
The Go Team’s work is continuous, seven days a week, 365 days a year, ending the cycle of violence and improving short- and long-term outcomes. The Go Team is the only emergency response program of its kind in Rhode Island.
Our 2024 honoree, Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio is the Rhode Island Senator for District 4, which encompasses neighborhoods in North Providence and Providence. Senator Ruggerio is a lifelong North Providence resident. He graduated from LaSalle Academy and earned a bachelor’s degree from Providence College. After serving as Senate Majority Leader from 2011 to 2017, Ruggerio’s colleagues elected him Senate President in 2017.
Ruggerio has consistently championed policies to grow Rhode Island’s economy and expand job opportunities for working families. Ruggerio believes good public schools and a well-educated workforce are critical to the future of the Ocean State. He co-sponsored the state’s education funding formula overhaul in 2010 and has fought each year to fully fund the formula. As a result, state education aid to Providence and North Providence has increased by $82 million and $11 million, respectively.
Ruggerio has also fought to create alternative career pathways for high school graduates by seeking to expand apprenticeship programs and collaborating with business leaders to establish public-private partnership centers throughout the state to train high school graduates for high-paying jobs right here in Rhode Island. He has fought to raise the state’s minimum wage, increase access to quality childcare, and expand the Earned Income Tax Credit. Ruggerio has been a strident defender of working families, as well as being an advocate for solutions to environmental issues.
Contact: Frazier Bell
Director of Development
bellfr@familyserviceri.org
This new opportunity allows us to honor individuals interested in becoming a Brighter Futures sponsor. Individual community champions are a cornerstone to helping children and their families have a Brighter Future.
The Rhode Island Convention Center
1 Sabin Street.
Providence, RI 02903
Click here, to contact us about available seating.