RISSA

RISSA The Rhode Island Social Skills Academy is all about learning for life!

We're a dynamic experiential learning community where young people with special needs make friends, explore talents, enrich our community, and practice vital social and life skills.

Come golf with us! 🤩A few foursomes are still available for RISSA's inaugural golf tournament on October 27! Also gratef...
10/17/2025

Come golf with us! 🤩A few foursomes are still available for RISSA's inaugural golf tournament on October 27! Also gratefully welcoming sponsors and silent auction donations! 🥰Visit www.rissagolf.org for online registration and all the fun details. 😎 All proceeds benefit the Rhode Island Social Skills Academy's dynamic enrichment experience - encompassing social skills, life skills, creative self-expression, health and fitness, and more - for young people with special needs in Newport County and the East Bay. 🌞 Great golf for a great cause! Join us! ❤️

Hey there, Audrain Automobile Museum! 🤩 Warmth, style, and personality ... you've got it all!!! 😎Immersing in arts and c...
10/14/2025

Hey there, Audrain Automobile Museum! 🤩 Warmth, style, and personality ... you've got it all!!! 😎Immersing in arts and culture - especially the rich cultural fabric of beautiful Aquidneck Island - is a big part of the RISSA experience, and the Museum is quintessentially Newport.🥰Many thanks to our wonderful friends at the Audrain for hosting our learning community for such a special visit. We're big fans!❤️

Beautiful day at Wanumetonomy Golf & Country Club 😎We're out on these gorgeous greens planning all the fun for our first...
10/10/2025

Beautiful day at Wanumetonomy Golf & Country Club 😎We're out on these gorgeous greens planning all the fun for our first-ever RISSA Golf Tournament on October 27!!! ⛳️ Want to tee off with us? Want your name on a golf cart? 🤩 Register as a golfer or sponsor at www.rissagolf.org! ☀️All proceeds support RISSA's experiential learning programs for amazing young people with special needs!!!❤️

We're so excited to see all our friends at RISSA's inaugural golf tournament!!! 🤩 We'll be teeing off at beautiful Wanum...
10/07/2025

We're so excited to see all our friends at RISSA's inaugural golf tournament!!! 🤩 We'll be teeing off at beautiful Wanumetonomy Golf & Country Club on October 27! ⛳️ The tournament will raise vital funds to sustain and grow programs and services for the amazing young people with special needs who are part of our experiential learning community 😎 Register your foursome (or snap up a sponsorship!!!) at www.rissagolf.org. See you then??? 🥰 Please like and share! ❤️

How cool is our friend Teri Degnan??? 😎 We are so grateful for her generous sponsorship of RISSA's first-ever golf tourn...
09/25/2025

How cool is our friend Teri Degnan??? 😎 We are so grateful for her generous sponsorship of RISSA's first-ever golf tournament 🥰 If you'd like a chance to ride in Teri's (sponsored) golf cart - and support the amazing young people served by RISSA! - please consider registering yourself or your foursome at www.rissagolf.org ⛳️ You'll also find an array of sponsorship opportunities, in case you want to join Teri as a tournament sponsor 🤩 Can't wait to see all our friends on October 27 at beautiful Wanumetonomy! ❤️

Huge, heartfelt thanks to our friends at Donovan & Sons, Inc. 🥰Hearts of gold ... and a gold sponsorship too! ❤️ Your ge...
09/24/2025

Huge, heartfelt thanks to our friends at Donovan & Sons, Inc. 🥰Hearts of gold ... and a gold sponsorship too! ❤️ Your generosity is incredibly impactful as we sustain and grow RISSA's innovative experiential learning community. 🥰 Want to be like Donovan & Sons?😎 (Let's face it ... don't we all???) 🤩Visit www.rissagolf.org and check out our wide array of sponsorship opportunities ... and please join us at Wanumetonomy Golf & Country Club on October 27!!!😍

Happy Rosh Hashanah! Wishing the sweetest new year to all our friends who are celebrating ❤️
09/24/2025

Happy Rosh Hashanah! Wishing the sweetest new year to all our friends who are celebrating ❤️

Let a smile be your umbrella 🥰
09/17/2025

Let a smile be your umbrella 🥰

Claimed your foursome yet? Scooped up a sponsorship?RISSA invites all our friends to join us on October 27 for this rauc...
09/15/2025

Claimed your foursome yet? Scooped up a sponsorship?

RISSA invites all our friends to join us on October 27 for this raucously fun event on one of America's most gorgeous golf courses. (Did you know that Wanumetonomy is one of only a handful of courses that offer water views from every hole???) ⛳️

Golf, games, prizes, a delicious dinner, a tantalizing silent auction, and of course a great cause. All we need is YOU!!! 🤩

We'd be thrilled to count you in as a tournament sponsor or golfer! We also welcome your donations of irresistible items or memorable experiences for our silent auction. 😍

Together, we'll raise critically important funds to support RISSA in helping young people with special needs develop superlative social and life skills and enjoy a wide array of educational and enrichment activities. And (as we always do!!!) we'll have the best time ever! 🥰

For event info and online registration (as well as our full menu of sponsorship opportunities!) please visit www.rissagolf.org. Please like and share! ❤️

Here's to the amazing, hard-working, entrepreneurial, spectacularly generous, and also famous (um ... you may have seen ...
09/12/2025

Here's to the amazing, hard-working, entrepreneurial, spectacularly generous, and also famous (um ... you may have seen him on the Times Square Jumbotron last weekend?!?) SETH DAME!!! 🤩

Did we mention that Seth is also a RISSA member? Not to brag
(oh, who are we kidding? we're gonna go ahead and brag a little) ... we really have the coolest friends 😎

That's Seth in the center, holding a check, surrounded by other very cool RISSA members. This is the moment when he took a few minutes away from his job at the Newport County YMCA to present an incredibly generous donation to RISSA. 😍Seth hosts a very successful Pop-up breakfast event every summer - donating the proceeds to charity - and this year RISSA was a lucky and extremely grateful recipient of his philanthropy!!! 🥰

RISSA runs on our community's generosity, and Seth's charitable donation will make a huge impact on our ability to sustain and grow our experiential learning community for young people with special needs. We're working hard to build capacity to meet rising demand for our dynamic, innovative programs, and philanthropic support has never been more vital. From investing in our teaching teams, to expanding our space, to meeting our members' transportation needs - including acquisition of a wheelchair-accessible van - generous friends like Seth make it all happen! 🤗

If you'd like to join Seth in supporting RISSA, please consider participating in our first-ever Golf Tournament on October 27! If you're a golfer - or you'd like to align your business or organization with RISSA's life-changing mission as a sponsor - please visit www.rissagolf.org for all the details! (Donations to our silent auction are also very gratefully accepted!) ⛳️

If golf isn't your jam - but you'd still like to be like Seth and support RISSA 😊please visit www.rissanewport.org to make an online gift.

Seriously ... is this fabulous or what? We're still floating on air. Thanks, Seth!!! (And thanks to everyone who supported his Pop-up!!!) We love you!!!❤️❤️❤️

02/08/2024

Thank you Kerrie, and O'Brien's Pub for providing us with the perfect party place with food!! A BIG, BIG THANK YOU TO TYLER BERNADYN AND KARL MAGNER, our guest bartenders for the afternoon!
What a great day! For those of you who supported us, by being there, or sending your support Thank You!
RISSA loves what we do,
and we do it because of you!
It takes a village, and you, are our village.
Thankful, grateful, and blessed!

Address

P. O. Box 4916
Newport, RI
02842

Opening Hours

Tuesday 8:30am - 1:30pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 1:30pm
Thursday 8:30am - 1:30pm

Telephone

(401) 935-2419

Website

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Our Mission

Mission Statement - The Rhode Island Social Skills Academy (RISSA) is a charitable program providing social and educational programs for adults with disabilities who are transitioning to adult life. Our focus is to support individuals with programs that develop the social confidence and skills for successful community living, employment readiness and promoting independence that supports a meaningful adult life.