Paul and Jayne Becker with Annabel Robertson and Peter Bijur [Photo: Denise Ritchie]

“It’s such an exciting time. We’re on the brink of a bright new future,” said Annabel Robertson, executive director of United Against Poverty. “It’s the reality of a dream. This is a monument to the heart and soul of this community, for caring for those in need.”

Robertson made the remarks at the opening of the nonprofit’s brand-new UP Center, a remarkable 46,000-square-foot facility where United Against Poverty can now take their holistic approach of helping families lift themselves out of poverty to a whole new level. Close to $8 million was raised for the venture by private philanthropy alone, without any governmental funding.

“The organization was founded by Austin and Ginny Hunt as Harvest Food and Outreach. If it hadn’t been for their vision, there would be no United Against Poverty,” said Barbara Lowry, UP board president, one of several people who addressed the crowd Thursday evening to thank everyone involved in the project, including donors, volunteers and staff.

Awash with vibrant, uplifting primary colors, the facility officially welcomed the public at a Grand Opening celebration last Saturday, following invitation-only receptions for major donors and community partners on two prior evenings.

One section of what was once a citrus warehouse now houses an enormous member-share grocery, its brightly lighted aisles neatly packed with everything you would find in a mainstream grocery store, but at drastically reduced prices for qualified families.

Classrooms, offices, meeting and board rooms are located all throughout the space, to be used for UP’s education, development and training programs, crisis stabilization services and a business development program. They can also be made available for use by nonprofit community partners, several of which will offer on-site services.

One of those, Treasure Coast Community Health, will operate a health clinic, including behavioral health counseling. Thanks to an anonymous donor, the clinic has been named in Robertson’s honor.

“Many of you know that I left a career in the law eight years ago to come work at United Against Poverty because I was so truly impressed by the vision of Austin and Ginny Hunt,” said Robertson. “What they were doing touched my heart; the organization they were creating, their vision for a brighter future that you’re standing in today. I was inspired to do that through the love of service that my father, who was a physician, gave to me. So it’s quite personally touching that the medical clinic was named in my honor.”

Board member Don Drinkard referenced the Margaret Mead quote on the donor appreciation wall: ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.’

“This building is going to be lifting lives in this community for decades to come,” said Drinkard to donors. “You are those citizens.”

Lowry noted that with six large classrooms, they have the physical capacity to increase from 100 to 300 the number of participants in their STEP (Success Training Employment Program), but would need to hire additional STEP facilitators and success coaches.

“We met the needs of the community by building this space, but now we need the community to help support us so we can increase staffing for our programs,” said Lowry. “And we will double our capacity in the member share grocery from 500 to 1,000 people per day. That’s pretty significant.”

“I have never seen an organization as wonderful as this in my life,” said board member Barbara Butts. “The people in this organization are top notch. They give 175 percent of themselves on a daily basis. They come in early, they stay late, and this building is from the heart. Everything has been done perfectly. We’ve had so many people who have stepped up to the plate. And so many people are going to be helped.”

“I was impressed with the holistic approach,” said board member Pam Harmon. “We’re serving almost every need of someone in poverty under one roof, and we’re doing things that have never been done. I’m hoping that this model can go national. It’s such an impressive model.”

For more information, visit upirc.org.