With a crowd of several hundred members of the local community and representatives from the D.C. government, they would all come together for the grand opening of the first of many changes to occur at St. Elizabeths East, the opening of the R.I.S.E. demonstration center. The acronym stands for; relate, innovate, stimulate and elevate. The opening of R.I.S.E. was accompanied by none other than Mayor Vincent E. Gray, Councilman Marion Barry and Executive of the St. Elizabeths East Project, Catherine Buell.