Weekly Insights: United Against Poverty Lifts Up Those Living in Poverty
United Against Poverty of Indian River County serves those in poverty by providing crisis care, transformative education, food and household subsidy, employment training and placement, personal empowerment training and active referrals to other collaborative social service providers. According to Indian River Indicators, about 11% of Indian River County residents live in poverty and another 33% earned income above poverty level (currently $26,500 for a family of four), but not high enough to afford basic necessities. One of United Against Poverty’s proven programs, the Success Training Employment Program (STEP), is actively “lifting up” those struggling to make ends meet by providing them with job-readiness skills. The program is made up of two phases: Phase I teaches Emotional Intelligence, Workplace Skills, and Job Acquisition; Phase II introduces participants to a Workforce Development Manager and Success Coach who guide them through the job hunt, job retention, and career development.
“Discovering how to promote self-love with inside of myself gave me more courage than I have felt in a long time. I walked into the interview with courage and confidence.”
- Jenny
Weekly Insights works in conjunction with Indian River Indicators. Indian River Indicators was launched in June 2021 and originated after the completion of the 2019 Indian River Community Needs Assessment. It provides key data and information about our community that is updated annually and can be used to support and sustain proven programs. It can also be used by community leaders to develop policy, promote promising practices and inspire innovation that can lead to solutions to persistent community challenges. Indian River Community Foundation holds informational sessions every Tuesday at 4pm via Zoom to introduce the community to this new resource. Please email chiaka@ircommunityfoundation.org to attend a session.
To learn more visit www.ircommunityfoundation.org and click “Indian River Indicators” or contact a member of the Community Foundation’s team at 772.492.1407.