United Against Poverty hosted a lovely oceanside Summer Social reception at Cobalt at the Vero Beach Hotel and Spa to thank their community partners, employer partners and business sponsors for collaborating with them and making such a positive impact within the community.
“Thank you so much for being here this evening. On behalf of all of us at United Against Poverty, I really want to thank you for taking the time to be here,” said Matt Tanner, UP executive director.
“Thank you so much for your partnership, thank you for your commitment to our mission, to our programs and, most importantly, your commitment to the men and women that we serve at the UP Center every day,” said Tanner.
He noted that the evening also provided an opportunity for the invited guests to take a breather and celebrate their own hard work. He spoke of how blessed we are to be part of a community that cares deeply about collaboration.
“A community that embraces challenges and recognizes that there is no barrier or hurdle that’s too tall for us to tackle collectively, and a community that all of us take a lot of pride in calling home. We look forward to continuing to grow our mission and knowing that if we do this in tandem, if we do it collectively as a community, then we will continue to go UP,” said Tanner.
“It was really just a way to say thank you and enjoy each other’s company for a minute outside of the office,” said Jane McNulty Snead, director of development.
“We’ve had over 100 nonprofits use our building this year,” said Snead, referencing their community partners.
She commented that the nonprofits use the space in a variety of ways, such as spreading awareness about their own programs, using the UP classrooms to host training, support groups or board meetings, or to host their own events, such as the Sangarita Challenge fundraiser hosted there by the Exchange Club of Vero Beach.
The space also includes one of the Access to Justice Legal Kiosks, an initiative of the United Way of Indian River County, and the Clerk of Court, which provides people access to legal resources.
“We offer free use of our space to other nonprofits to meet with their clients if they don’t have space of their own or if transportation is an issue for clients. Like for instance, if we call SafeSpace, they will come here and meet with a victim rather than have to send them anywhere,” said Snead.
“That’s something that I’m definitely trying to get word out about. When you’re supporting us in our building, you’re supporting a lot of nonprofits in the area that don’t have the space that we have,” said Snead.
Their employer partners, she said, come in on the third week of each STEP (Success Training Employment Program) cycle to do speed interviewing.
“It helps our participants get experience with doing interviews and they’re able to give us immediate feedback. Like, this person was great, but maybe give them a little more coaching on how to answer this question. We do a lot of direct hiring from those events,” said Snead.
Additionally, participants in their free Build UP program, which provides hands-on training for positions in the trades, construction, and manufacturing industries, take field trips to the employers to see what a day on the job looks like.
“And then of course, hiring, giving people a chance and an opportunity,” Snead added.
The partnerships all fall under the umbrella of the United Against Poverty goal of empowering families and individuals to lift themselves to sustainable economic self-sufficiency. UP services also include crisis care, case management, education, and their Member Share Grocery.
For more information, visit UnitedAgainstPoverty.org.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
