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INDIAN RIVER COUNTY NONPROFIT 1 QUASI AGENCY REQUEST FOR FUNDING B. Organizational Capability 1. Provide the mission statement and vision of your organization: Mission 6tatement. To serve those in poverty by providing crisis care, case management, transformative education, food and household subsidy, employment training and placement, personal empowerment training and active referrals to other collaborative social serv'.ce providers. Vision: UP's Vision Statement: Communities where every family has access to basic needs, nutritional food, crisis care, education, and employment training, and where everyone has the opportunity to achieve a future filled with hope and possibilities. 2_ Provide a brief summary of your organization, including areas of expertise, accomplishments and vuNuictuurr Out VC; . "By any objective measure United Against Poverty is moving the poverty needle better than anyone else in the Country" Dr. Robert Lupton, Author "Toxic Charity" and "Charity Detox, What Charity Would Look Like if we Cared About the Results." United Against Poverty (UP) exists to inspire and empower people living in poverty to lift themselves and their families to economic self-sufficiency. Fundamentally, UP believes that providing people in need a "Hand Up" is the proper path to empower individuals to break the cycle of poverty. Expertise: UP's expertise is two -fold: A proven track record of actually moving families out of poverty and into economic self-sufficiency, since 2014 514 individuals have become employed through UP's workforce development programs, and the ongoing, self-sustaining social enterprise that is the UP Member Share Grocery Program MSGP). Since 20013 MSGP has ensured financially struggling families will always have access to food in a dignified environment. Accomplishments: UP began as a small nonprofit organization in 2003, known as Harvest Food & Outreach Center on Old Dixie Highway in south Vero Beach. The initial program was a cost -share model grocery program and has since expanded to include a holistic approach to addressing the root cause of poverty. Today, through its facilities in Indian River County, Ft. Pierce and Orlando, the organization serves about 1,500 families a day. UP has robustly expanded its programs and services since its inception to provide motivated participants a pathway to economic self-sufficiency. A 46,000 square foot newly renovated UP Center opened in January 2020 in Indian River County that provides the facility resources needed to meet the community demand for our programming and break free more citizens from the cycle of poverty. Populations Served: The populations UP serves are families living in Indian River County with a household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level. According to the United Way of Florida's ALICE (Asset -Limited, Income -Constrained, Employed) Report, of the households in Indian River County, 51 percent struggle to pay for basic needs, including food, housing, healthcare, childcare, and transportation. Although the UP Center onsite visitors fluctuated greatly in 2020, the large Member Share Grocery Program saw a total of 7,057 unique households who were able to retain over $5M in household resources by using the program. The current average daily number of members utilizing both the North and South Vero Member Share Grocery Program is 500. 131