Where Are They Now? 2010 Partner: StepUp Ministry

We at Band Together know that there is a reason we do what we do: to affect social change in the community.  While our 2010 with StepUp Ministry raised $358,000, we thought the sponsors, volunteers and music lovers who supported that event may be interested to know the great things StepUp Ministry has been able to do since.StepUp Ministry is a non-profit organization preparing adults and children to live stable, productive lives through Jobs and Life Skills training. Over the past three years, StepUp Ministry has increased its staff by creating 25 new positions, and has increased their budget by 1.5 million dollars, expanding and adding programs that allow their beneficiaries to sustain – and increase – their own successes.In 2010, StepUp Ministry placed 180 people in new jobs.  They have nearly doubled the number of hours of job training and in 2012 placed 380 people in new jobs.  StepUp Ministry’s CEO, Steve Swayne, says that the program is “on pace to place 450 people in 2013”.  Their life skills curriculum has expanded to a year-long program that helps to improve stability.  The organization has also developed a method to track this improvement, through an Individual Development Plan.Increases in budget and staff have also helped launch an Alumni program that teaches a one-year entrepreneur class and a middle class living program   All staff use iPads to record measurable data for use in defining stability, improving their programs, and increasing the morale of their participants.Mr. Swayne attributed the Band Together partnership with giving “us confidence to improve ourselves…a sense that our mission was relevant to the community”, and [teaching us] “that fundraising was supposed to be a joy.”

“Band Together was a massive catalyst in propelling StepUp forward but it is not about StepUp.  It is about the people served.  It is about seeing more fulfilled lives.  It is about watching a person go from a shelter lifestyle to a lifestyle of growth, belief and accomplishment.  It is beautiful and Band Together is such an important part of StepUp's history." - CEO, STEVE SWAYNE