Breaking the Cycle of Poverty
UP Center in St. Lucie & Southern Treasure Coast
by Stephanie Symonds, A Mommy Corner
A Mommy Corner was honored to interview
James Monds, the Executive Director of the UP
Center. James is a native of Fort Pierce and he
knows what it means to live in and overcome
poverty, as he allowed poverty to become his
driving force to rise up and make a difference
in his community. The UP Center is a place in
St Lucie, Indian River Counties, and Orlando
to service all families who are in need of extra
assistance. The UP Center has been in existence
since 2006 servicing the community to help
break the cycle of poverty by lifting lives. They
believe that poverty is not permanent, and
that people are not defined by their current
circumstances. They have an extensive amount
of services that are in place to help people
take a step forward in their own lives. The UP
Center is a firm believer of collaborating with
other agencies and organizations
to fight poverty.
The Grocery Membership
Program is a food and household
supply assistance program where
the members can select food,
hygiene, and household items for
their family needs. The membership
is free and available to those
Treasure Coast Edition — Volume I Issue I, Winter/Spring 13
who fall into the 200% percentile
of the poverty level. They believe in the
HAND UP model, rather than hand out, with
the desire to empower and motivate for growth
and success to overcome poverty. The UP Center
helps families save up to 70% on their normal
grocery budget. Research states that Americans
spend 40% of income on food. The UP Center
helps families living paycheck to paycheck cut
their grocery budget so they spend only half
that much on food.
The Crisis Stabilization Program is in place
to help those in a crisis situation. They will
complete an intake process with the individual
by asking a range of different questions. This
questionnaire helps the assigned case manager
have a complete understanding of each person’s
situation so they can get to the root cause and
provide the client with a care plan including
referrals for community resources.
The General Education Program is a support
program for GED students at Indian River
State College. They provide ESOL support for
individuals speaking Spanish and Creole. They
help participants learn English so they can successfully
gain bilingual employment utilizing
their native language.
The AIDS Awareness Program provides free
testing for AIDS and STDs every Friday from
12-5pm. The testing is sponsored by Butterfield
Drugs and free to all in the community.
The Teen Prevention Pregnancy Program is
new. A liaison from the center goes to different
schools and educate young ladies about teen
pregnancy prevention. She lets them know that
teens can come to the UP Center to get tested
for pregnancy for free.
The Capstone Project – Success Training
Employment Program (STEP) is transcending
lives by empowering adults to make something
more of their lives. Participants can step outside
of their comfort zone to make
a difference for themselves and
their families. The STEP program
provides a workforce skills acquisition
training program to help
the clients gain employment. The
goal is to gain successful employment
by the end of the six week
course. They personally train each
individual. The individuals go
through a three phase program made up of 120
hours of work. They work on their emotional
intelligence, workplace skill development,
and job acquisitioning skills. The first phase
includes four hours a day, five days a week.
The second phase focuses on individualized
skill development, employment preparation,
and job placement. If possible job interviews
are given for full time positions that fit that
individual’s particular career choice. Then once
the individual gains employment they enter
phase three to focus on employment retention
and career development. Each participants is
provided a success coach who continues to
work with them for three years to ensure they
excel and advance towards further success.
The UP Center is brought to you by United
Against Poverty. You may visit the UP Center at
2520 Orange Avenue, Fort Pierce, FL 34947.
For more information please visit www.UPslc.org
or call 772-468-8543.
/www.UPslc.org