About Us

This is the Headline

Our Mission

&

Vision

United Against Poverty was incorporated in 2003 with the vision of helping communities where every family and individual 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.

Our Purpose: To empower families and individuals to lift themselves to sustainable economic self-sufficiency.

Our Mission: To serve families and individuals 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 service providers.

Our work is shaped by the understanding that, together, we can create lasting change to combat life’s most difficult challenges.

Our Values

Dignity. Integrity. Respect.
Compassion. Empowerment.
Responsibility. Collaboration.
Holistic Approach.

Lifting

Lives

Our approach is centered on helping people help themselves; offering hope and a hand UP rather than a hand out. Today, our UP Centers annually serve more than 56,709 unique households through our programs and services, with a monthly average of 4,700 families receiving assistance. Our UP Centers serve those whose household income is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level.

Programs Designed To Empower

At United Against Poverty, we provide four essential programs crafted to strengthen community foundations and empower individuals and families to achieve economic self-sufficiency with confidence.

MSGP

Member Share Grocery Program (MSGP) is a dignified food and household assistance program where income-qualified members can personally select the food and household items their family needs, while saving up to two-thirds of their household food and product budget.

In 2023, our MSGP helped families retain $17.6 Million.

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Success Training Employment Program (STEP)  is an adult workforce training program designed to help individuals overcome barriers to employment.

Participants spend 4 weeks learning both the hard and soft skills required to help them secure living wage jobs.

Once they obtain employment, each participant is paired with a Success Coach, who continues to work with them for three years to ensure long-term success.

In 2023, STEP helped secure employment for 258 graduates.

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STEP
CSP

Crisis Stabilization Program (CSP) operates in our Life Enrichment Center, where those in crisis situations can come for the skills, resources and coaching needed to stabilize their life and work towards a permanent higher ground.

In 2023, our CSP provided 18,008 units of service assisting 2,725 unique households. 

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Collaboration is a key component of our mission. At United Against Poverty, we advocate a “more is more” approach. We believe that the more agencies we partner with and the more services and resources we can make available on-site, the more we can help those who are hidden, hungry and hurting.

We regularly make active referrals to partner agencies so that people in crisis can access the services they need to stabilize their lives. Through these partnerships, we can maximize our impact and better serve those in need in the communities we serve.

Learn More

CPS

Organizational
History

United Against Poverty is a registered 501c3 nonprofit. Over the past 21 years, our three UP Center locations have existed to meet the hunger, crisis and homelessness needs of families and individuals who walk through our doors daily.

Our very first low-cost grocery program opened in South Vero in 2003; this innovative food assistance program provided people in the community with the opportunity to obtain nutritious food and household goods at a savings of up to 60-70%.

Since then, the need for our services has continued to grow, and so has United Against Poverty. Currently, we have three centers located throughout Florida:

  • Indian River County (Vero Beach)
  • St. Lucie County (Fort Pierce)
  • Orange County (Orlando)

We offer programs that are recognized in our communities and have partnered with a variety of social service agencies and organizations to provide the necessary wraparound services to those visiting our centers.

Our GOAL is to lift the lives of those in need by providing programs and services that lead to sustainable economic self-sufficiency!

UAP Team

Corporate Board of Directors

United Against Poverty’s dedicated board members are committed to our goal of breaking the cycle of poverty in communities across Florida. To learn more about our board members, click the images below to read their biographies.

Dan Pugh

Dan Pugh

Board Chair; Development Cabinet

Linda Rusciano

Linda Rusciano

Board Vice Chair; Chair of Development Cabinet

Robert Boeschen

Robert Boeschen

Treasurer; Chair of Finance Committee; Chair of Operations Cabinet

Amy Patterson

Amy Patterson

Board Secretary; Development Cabinet

Don Drinkard

Don Drinkard

Finance Committee; Programs Cabinet; Development Cabinet

Joshua Gang

Joshua Gang

Nominating Governance Committee

Bernard Kastory

Bernard Kastory

Chair of Programs Cabinet; Finance Committee

John Klein

John Klein

Development Cabinet

Brandon Nobile

Brandon Nobile

Operations Cabinet

Brian Rubin

Brian Rubin

Chair of Nominating Governance Committee

Victoria Thomson

Victoria Thomson

Operations Cabinet

Leadership Team

Our daily operations thrive thanks to the commitment and expertise of our dedicated United Against Poverty teams. At UAP, we believe that serving with passion is essential, but contributing to an organization that significantly impacts countless lives requires a unique individual. The exceptional support and unwavering dedication of our executive and regional staff play a pivotal role in making our mission possible.

Explore our regional staff teams in Orlando, Indian River County, and St. Lucie County.

Todd Archer

Todd Archer

Chief Operating Officer

Sean Howald

Sean Howald

Executive Director - St. Lucie

Matt Tanner

Matt Tanner

Executive Director - Indian River

Anjali Vaya

Anjali Vaya

Executive Director - Orlando

Corporate Staff

Ray Leake

Ray Leake

Vice President, Product Partner Development

Marianne Fortin

Marianne Fortin

Director of Procurement, Logistics & POS

Jacqueline Kazimer

Jacqueline Kazimer

Director of Corporate Relations & Procurement

Jessica Mitchell

Jessica Mitchell

Director of MSGP

Michelle Matheson

Michelle Matheson

Director of Human Resources

Heath Parker

Heath Parker

Director of Operations & Safety

Cheryl Punk

Cheryl Punk

Director of Marketing & Communications

Cynthia Sweeney

Cynthia Sweeney

Director of Finance

Rosanne Gubitosi

Rosanne Gubitosi

Manager of Accounting

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Manager of Distribution Center

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Manager of Logistics

Mark Powell

Mark Powell

Manager of Maintenance

Financials

Access our financial statements and learn about how we are utilizing our resources to give back to our communities, expand reach, and increase impact.

Success Stories

We at United Against Poverty are incredibly proud of the positive impact we’ve had in our communities. Our Success Stories are a testimony to the resilience of the human spirit, and the difference that dedicated compassion, support, and outreach can make.

Read through our Success Stories to learn more about the individuals we’ve helped on their journey to self-sufficiency.

Guerline and her husband are a very hardworking couple raising a family in our community. Even though they both were working full time jobs they were finding it hard to make ends meet. While coming to the UP Center for assistance they learned about the Success Training Program (STEP). Guerline joined STEP in hopes of finding better employment where she could earn a living wage and find a job that makes her happy. While in STEP she was able to connect her passion of serving people through food and her love of children with a job in the St. Lucie County School System. This new opportunity enables her to increase her income, helping to provide even more for her family. Even better news, her husband will be joining STEP in 2024! From seeking better opportunities to finding her true calling, she has uplifted her family and our community.

Raul is a graduate of our Success Training Employment Program (STEP) who turned his life around after incarceration. With no job, license, or money, Raul was determined to change his circumstances. Starting in our UAP warehouse, Raul impressed staff and eventually secured a full-time position and became a house manager at a sober living facility. Today, Raul’s transformation is remarkable—he’s founded three sober living homes, partnered with Pure Health and Wellness, and serves as a mentor in our community, guiding others toward recovery. He credits his success to focused determination and the support he received from his Success Coach, proving that there are no limits to what one can achieve.

Leroy, a Veteran came to the United Against Poverty looking for assistance through our crisis program. Leroy had enough couch surfing and had been looking for employment for 3 months. Our Crisis Navigator referred Leroy to the Housing Tribe where he was able to secure shared housing and to Veteran Affairs to address other needs. Leroy enrolled in our Success Employment Training Program to assist him with finding employment. Leroy entered the first day of STEP class with low self-confidence and feeling hopeless. After 4 weeks in the STEP program, Leroy found the career he was looking for at Freight Liners as a CDL Driver. Leroy is now focused on saving up for a home of his own.

“STEP helped me receive a great job offer. I am now hopeful and confident! Thanks to UAP staff which are super!” -Leroy G.