• RiseUpemceesTeddyThomasandIyereEbosele
    Rise Up emcees Teddy Thomas and Iyere Ebosele. Photo by Vern Hester
  • YEPPExecutiveandArtisticDirectorBonsaiBermudez
    YEPP Executive and Artistic Director Bonsai Bermudez. Photo by Vern Hester
  • ShaneCalvininperformance
    Shane Calvin in performance. Photo by Vern Hester
  • YEPPparticipantspastandpresent
    YEPP participants, past and present. Photo by Vern Hester
  • GreyandDaciaSlateronstageatRiseUp
    Grey and Dacia Slater onstage at Rise Up. Photo by Vern Hester
  • IyereEboseleafterperforming
    Iyere Ebosele after performing. Photo by Vern Hester
  • fromleft_YEPPBoardmemberAviBowieGreyDaciaSlaterandShaneCalvin
    From left_ YEPP Board member Avi Bowie, Grey, Dacia Slater, and Shane Calvin. Photo by Vern Hester
  • SpiritApotheosisinperformance
    Spirit Apotheosis in performance. Photo by Vern Hester
  • DebbieRijosbackleftandfriendsatRiseUp
    Debbie Rijos, back left, and friends at Rise Up. Photo by Vern Hester
  • KaRielGaiteronstageatRiseUp
    Ka’Riel Gaiter onstage at Rise Up. Photo by Vern Hester
  • DSC_660777
    At the YEPP Rise Up event. Photo by Vern Hester
  • DSC_660877
    At the YEPP Rise Up event. Photo by Vern Hester
  • DSC_661477
    At the Rise Up event. Photo by Vern Hester
Members and guests of Youth Empowerment Performance Project (YEPP) gathered Nov. 17 at Chicago Theater Works, 1113 W. Belmont Ave., for the organization’s fall fundraiser, Rise Up: Our Celebration of Resistance.

The evening marked both the Transgender Day of Remembrance as well as National Youth Homelessness Awareness Month. As the organization noted in a Nov. 16 statement, “Both of these issues and the communities and individuals are impacted are interwoven throughout the framework of YEPP.”

For information of YEPP, see WeSayYEPP.com.

Photos by Vernon Hester