2021 ANNUAL REPORT

StepUp By The Numbers

Thank you for helping us create opportunities.

Opportunities. Your investment in StepUp Ministry creates opportunities for families seeking stable and safe lives. We are more than thankful for your generosity.

Because of you, StepUp is helping adults who want to work gain employment training and placement. You’re also helping working adults learn to manage their money and set goals. Their children are accessing the tools to succeed in the classroom, exploring arts and etiquette, and learning to advocate for themselves. These skills will transfer to all areas of their lives.

During the pandemic, we’ve discovered other opportunities as well. New partnerships. Ways to strengthen relationships. Effective virtual instruction. Thank you for standing with us as we create opportunities to help families thrive.

Gratefully,

Anna White Hosea, Board Chair

Linda Nunnallee, Executive Director

Because of You: Financial Report

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CORPORATIONS

   • Alliance of Professionals & Consultants 

• BD (Becton,Dickinson) 

• Blackwell Mortgage 

• Blue Cross & Blue Shield of North Carolina 

• Blue Heel Development 

• Bob Barker Company 

• Capitol Financial Solutions 

• Clancy & Theys Construction Co. 

• CMC Hotels Corporation 

• Curi - Medical Mutual 

• Digital Insurance 

• Equity Research Services 

• First Citizens Bank 

• First National Bank 

• Hollingsworth & White, Inc. 

• Insperity 

• Inspired Capital (fka - Whitesell, Graff, Emrath) 

• InXpress 

• IQ Contractors 

• IQVIA(Quintiles) 

• Jones Insurance Agency 

• Jones Lang LaSalle 

• Kane Realty Corporation 

• NCDOT Roadway Design 

• Newcomb & Company 

• North Carolina Department of Public Safety 

• North State Bank 

• Parker Poe 

• PNC Bank 

• Popchips, Velocity Snack Brands 

• Presbytery of New Hope 

• Raymond James & Associates 

• RBC Bank 

• Reagan Madison 

• Revco Solutions 

• Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan, LLP 

• TerraTech Engineers, Inc 

• Triangle Builders Guild 

• Underwood and Roberts, PLLC 

• Verizon 

• Williams Mullen 

• Xilinx 

• York Properties 

FOUNDATIONS

  • The Leon Levine Foundation 

• ChildTrust Foundation - AKA Investors Management Corporation 

• The Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Inc. 

• Wells Fargo Foundation 

• The John William Pope Foundation 

• A.E. Finley Foundation 

• Cisco Foundation 

• Nancy A. Wright Foundation, Inc. 

• Amazon Smile Foundation 

• Rotary Club of West Raleigh 

• Duke Energy Foundation 

• GlaxoSmithKline Foundation 

• Raleigh Kiwanis Foundation 

• Rotary Club of Raleigh 
   
FAMILY FOUNDATIONS

•  M John R. and Carolyn J. Maness Family Foundation, Inc. 

• Bell Family Foundation 

• Blackwell Family Foundation 

• Chaucer Charitable Foundation 

• Cozart Foundation 

• Josephus Daniels Charitable Fund of Triangle Community Foundation 

• Sandra and Lawrence Davis Family Foundation 

• William C. Ethridge Foundation 

• Floyd Family Foundation 

• Ella Ann and Frank B. Holding Foundation 

• Mackintosh Family Fund 

• Mead Family Foundation 

• Nivison Family Foundation 

• Rolander Family Foundation 

• Ann C. and C. Hamilton Sloan Foundation 

• The Warner Fund Inc. 

CONGREGATIONS

• The Catholic Community of St. Francis of Assisi 

• Christ Episcopal Church of Raleigh 

• Crossroads Fellowship Church 

• Edenton Street United Methodist Church 

• First Baptist Church 

• First Presbyterian Church of Raleigh 

• Hayes Barton Baptist Church 

• Hayes Barton United Methodist Church 

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh 

• St. Giles Presbyterian Church 

• St. Michael's Episcopal Church 

• Temple Beth Or 

• Williams Grove Baptist Church 

VOLUNTEERS

• Regina Adams 

• Stacey Aiken 

• Hilary Allen 

• Jennifer Anderson 

• Leanne Barnard 

• Bob Battle 

• Michael Beale 

• Gary Black 

• Ceil Blackwell 

• Kelly Brewer 

• Stannie Brewer 

• Jim Brown 

• Martha Browning 

• Charles Buckler 

• Victor Canez 

• Cindy Canning 

• Carolyn Cantrell 

• Ken Cates 

• Anna Cathcart 

• John Chapman 

• Lorrie Chapman 

• BinBin Chen 

• Jack Clayton 

• Connie Coble 

• Angela Coleman 

• Cheryl Collins 

• Danny Cook 

• Cynthia Cooper 

• Ciara Corcoran 

• Dawn Cornwell 

• Michelle Curtis 

• Ally Daniel 

• Spencer Daniel 

• Kenslee Daughtridge 

• Betsy Davis 

• Shelly and Chris DeAdder 

• Angie Dowd 

• Allissa Ellis 

• Trish Estes 

• Abby Fairbank 

• Tonita Few 

• Debbie Fox 

• Cheniqua Gardiner-Hill 

• Maeve Gardner 

• Clara Gay 

• Allison Glenn 

• Whitley Glosson 

• Claire Glover 

• Kristin Green 

• Janet Griffin (Conn) 

• Betsy Hage 

• Katherine Anne Hamlin 

• Carol Hamm 

• Michelle Hand 

• Ann Hanley 

• Laurie Harrell 

• Anthony S. Harris 

• Leonard C. Hayes 

• Ashton Herbert 

• Deanna Hicks 

• Kathy Hilands 

• Kathleen Hofstadter 

• Bob Hofstadter 

• Hope Homesley 

• Anna Hosea 

• Stephanie Hughes 

• Sereion Humphrey 

• David Isley 

• James Ivy 

• Timothy Jackson 

• August James 

• Dennis Jarmon 

• Theresa Jeffers 

• Joe Jordan 

• James Joslin 

• Sarah Justice 

• Maggie Kane 

• Diann Kearney 

• Crissy Keye Rollins 

• Phil Lambert 

• Stan Lambeth 

• Coty Lambeth 

• Anne Clark Lau 

• Trevor Lawson 

• Alyssa Leach 

• Kristen Levine 

• Caroline Lewis 

• Tina Lewis 

• Amanda Lima 

• John Little 

• Carolyn Lockridge 

• Brandon Lowery 

• LaQuan Lucas-Harris 

• Laura Lumb 

• Andrew Lynch 

• Katrina Lyons 

• Tiffany Maddox 

• Morris Mann 

• Pierre Marcella 

• Hannah Matthews 

• Ed McCarthy 

• Sue McGill 

• Jay McLamb 

• Jeff Minor 

• Ann Moore 

• Audrey Morgan 

• Michael Murphy 

• Eric Naitove 

• Shelby Neal 

• Shannon Newby 

• Joe Norton 

• Linda Nunnallee 

• Andy Nunnallee 

• Jennifer O'Connor 

• Jacques Oury 

• Allie Oxtoby 

• Sharone Pack 

• Earle Page 

• Caroline Peterson 

• Abbey Pope 

• Travis Post 

• Abigail Powell 

• Michele Pratt 

• Melissa Price 

• Makeda Pride 

• Emma Rader 

• George Ramsay 

• Megan Riley 

• Jay Risinger 

• Allison Roberts 

• Phillip Romano 

• Andrew Rose 

• Devon Rose 

• Cameron Rosenow 

• Katherine Ross 

• Suzanne Rotchford 

• Stephanie Rutter 

• William Salisbury 

• Kelsey sandford 

• Gregg Sandreuter 

• Elizabeth Scott 

• Tara and John Shell 

• Elizabeth Shelton 

• Courtney Shimmel 

• Anna Sholl 

• Gab Smith 

• Justina Smith 

• Hannah Smith 

• Marc Sodl 

• Dick Songey 

• DeShelia Spann 

• Colisha Stanford 

• Richard Starostecki 

• Pam Steele 

• Christine Stephens (Jardis) 

• Harriet Stephenson 

• Jan Stewart 

• Libby Stubbs 

• Domenica Stuckey 

• Crafton Swindell 

• Erin Swindell 

• Joanne Tau 

• Maxine Terry 

• Anna Traylor 

• Max Turner 

• Robert Turner 

• Kevin Vallecorsa 

• Davie Vaughan 

• Chris Vlahoplus 

• Stacie Walker 

• Emily Walser 

• Ashley Warren 

• Jennifer Watkins 

• Holly Watson 

• Trent Watson 

• Michele Welch 

• Bill Wenner 

• Bonnie Whitehead 

• Adam Whitesell 

• Cynthia Whitney 

• Caroline Williams Aden

StepUp Ministry has made every effort to ensure each donor, volunteer, and employer is properly recognized in the above lists. Please contact us regarding any errors or omissions at nbromhal@stepupministry.org

Opening Doors for New Opportunities

Maria Velasco and her son discovered community and confidence in the StepUp program

“StepUp came to my life in the moment when I most needed the tools to start an independent life,” says Maria Velasco, who graduated from Step2 Life Skills in December 2020. Maria came to StepUp to find community, continue her journey of independence, and to grow her confidence in herself. Her biggest accomplishment has been coming to the United States in 2012, learning another language, and raising her son here as a single mom.

“StepUp opened my mind through the topics that were covered during the classes. StepUp benefitted my son because it is a social environment. He will develop the skills of communication.”

Maria feels that StepUp helped her thrive by providing her with resources, networks, and opportunities for continued education. She learned how to manage her household budget, build her credit, and bank online. Maria continued to work full-time at a local retailer and is now involved in the Alumni Program as a StepUp Ambassador and member of the StepUp Toastmasters Club. “Along with the world changes, [StepUp] has opened the doors for new opportunities by accessing education from your home anywhere in the world and the new skills obtained to apply in your everyday life,” Maria adds. Maria lives by these words, “Never give up. Persist until something happens.” StepUp gave her the opportunity to discover and develop her skills and to set an example for her son.

Opportunities for learning and fun

Children’s Program Spotlight: raising resilient children

StepUp’s Children’s Team continued to draw on creativity and evidence-based instruction to serve families during the past year. In addition to weekly programs to teach life skills and explore arts and etiquette, the team offered a series of workshops for families including a successful Triple P (Positive Parenting Program) event in March. Triple P is an evidence-based curriculum to help parents raise resilient children.

For the Triple P event, StepUp provided each family with supply kits, and more than 100 parents and children joined a Zoom seminar to make crafts and learn parenting skills.

“It was the coolest virtual atmosphere! I liked seeing other parents all logged on to get parenting support,” says one of the parents. “It was great to know that I am not the only parent struggling at times and that it’s ok to reach out to get advice and support. Everything I heard was practical and made lots of sense. I feel like I have more parenting tools to work with now!”

FNB sponsored StepUp families at the holidays

Making a Difference

Corporate Spotlight: First National Bank

First National Bank (FNB), one of StepUp Ministry’s long-time corporate partners, stepped up in a significant way in the past year.

“First National Bank is committed to doing the right thing and making a difference,” says Chris Moore, Regional Market Executive and President of FNB’s Raleigh-Durham Region. “Improving the quality of life in the places we work and call home is an essential part of FNB’s mission. Investing in our community is at the core of how we define success.”

Todd Scott with StepUp alumnus Reese Martin

In 2020, FNB supported StepUp in multiple ways. Todd Scott, Workplace Banking Specialist, led a series of trainings in StepUp’s Life Skills and Alumni programs. “The participants are very engaged and enthusiastic,” Scott explains. “They ask great questions and share life experiences so everyone, including me, benefits from the information.” Through the FNB instruction, StepUp participants developed a range of financial literacy skills, from learning to bank online, budgeting and saving for homeownership, to starting a small business.

In addition, a team from FNB sponsored StepUp families at the holidays; Jay Risinger, Business Banking Team Leader, serves on the board and lends his expertise to the Finance Committee; and FNB made a significant financial investment in StepUp to support employment training, life skills, and individual case management in the past year.

First National Bank is the largest subsidiary of F.N.B. Corporation.

Employment Spotlight: Dragonfly Pond Works and American Conservation Experience

StepUp Ministry continued to prepare participants for sustainable jobs and develop new employer partnerships as employment trends shifted in the past year.

Dragonfly Pond Works, an environmental service company specializing in stormwater management, including pond and lake maintenance, began hiring from StepUp in early 2021.

StepUp readied employees to work for Dragonfly and similar companies by collaborating with the American Conservation Experience (ACE) and the Southeast Sustainability Directors Network (SSDN). StepUp provided employment training for the ACE participants, who then gained hands-on sustainable landscaping experience working in the Walnut Creek Wetlands. Several StepUp participants advanced to apprenticeships with SSDN to learn more about the impact of climate change.

Tay McClaude gained experience from ACE and SSDN and now works for Dragonfly. StepUp’s portion of the ACE training helped him build a resume and learn to interview with confidence. “I learned about the environment through working in the Walnut Creek Wetland Park,” he adds

Tay enjoys his job at Dragonfly. “It’s a great job, and I like working outside and making a difference in the environment.”

Cam Alejo-Vann and Tay McClaude built skills and gained employment through StepUp’s partnerships with the American Conservation Project and Dragonfly Pond Works