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Sixteen Years, Three Grants: How Impact 100 IR Helped Build United Against Poverty

Some grants are a moment. Others compound for years. Since 2010, Impact 100 Indian River County has awarded three separate grants to United Against Poverty (UP) — and every one of them is still working in our community today. Together they tell a story that goes far beyond a single check: the story of how consistent, member-led giving can help a small nonprofit grow into one of the most vital organizations in Indian River County.

2010 — A Grocery Program Rooted in Dignity

In 2010, United Against Poverty was still known as Kingdom Harvest, operating out of a small house in South Vero Beach. That year, an Impact 100 grant helped the organization expand into three buildings on US1 and 29th Street. The funds were used to renovate the new space and purchase the equipment needed to launch an expanded Member Share Grocery Program — an accessible, dignified food-assistance model where members select nutritious items suited to their family’s lifestyle at roughly a 70% savings over a traditional grocery store. Sixty percent of the food is donated and forty percent is purchased by UP, keeping the shelves stocked and the choices real.

The program’s success did more than feed families. It helped convince donors to support a major capital campaign that ultimately allowed United Against Poverty to consolidate all of its programs under one roof and move to its current location in 2020. The ripple effect of that first grant is still visible every day: in 2025 alone, more than 17,000 unique households used the Grocery Program, and families saved a combined $6.7 million.

2016 — Building a Real Path to Employment

Six years later, Impact 100 returned to invest in a different kind of need: not just food for today, but a path out of poverty for the long term. The Success Training Employment Program (STEP) is a free, three-phase program — currently four hours a day, five days a week, for four weeks — that equips participants with the skills, confidence, and knowledge to secure employment and reach their financial goals.

In 2016, Impact funds supported the development of two curricula that made STEP sessions far more focused and effective. One curriculum centers on job acquisition and workforce skills; the other on developing social-emotional intelligence. Both are still in use today — recently updated to incorporate the use of AI. The grant also paid for STEP coaches to complete financial-literacy courses through the National Financial Literacy Council, and purchased the computer stations and furniture the growing program required.

The outcomes speak for themselves. In 2025, 195 individuals completed the STEP program and 130 became successfully employed, with assistance and support continuing for those not yet placed. Every year since, United Against Poverty has raised private funds to keep offering STEP to the community — turning a one-time Impact 100 investment into a permanent fixture.

2022 — Removing the Last Barrier

By 2022, STEP was proven and effective, but a stubborn, practical problem was holding people back: many of those who most needed the program simply had no way to get there. Impact 100’s third grant solved it directly.

The funds purchased a 14-passenger “Going UP” bus, hired a part-time driver, and covered the cost of gas — making reliable transportation part of the program itself.

The impact was immediate and dramatic. Since the bus arrived and transportation became available, participation in STEP has climbed 95% — from 114 individuals in 2022 to 222 in 2025 — and over that same period, the number of participants who became employed rose by 90%. As with STEP itself, United Against Poverty has raised private funds each year to keep the wheels turning, quite literally, for the community.

A Partnership That Compounds

Look across all three grants and a pattern emerges. Impact 100’s giving didn’t just fund programs — it helped build an organization. A grocery program became the anchor for a capital campaign. A training curriculum became a permanent pathway to employment. A single bus unlocked a 95% jump in the people STEP could reach. Each grant strengthened the last, and United Against Poverty carried every one of them forward with its own fundraising, year after year.

That is what collective giving looks like when it works: 489 women, pooling their resources, creating change that keeps changing lives long after the check clears. Sixteen years later, the grants Impact 100 members funded are still feeding families, still training workers, and still driving people toward brighter futures.

“Because of Impact 100’s belief in our mission, thousands of local families have gained reliable access to nutritious food and opportunities to build brighter futures through workforce training. Their investment has changed lives while helping United Against Poverty grow into a stable, sustainable organization that can serve our community for years to come. We are deeply grateful for a partnership that creates lasting impact far beyond a single grant.”