About FIAUP
Faith in Action of Upper Pinellas is a not-for-profit, non-sectarian organization that exists to enhance the quality of life and promote the health and well-being of older adults and persons with disabilities enabling them to remain independent in their own homes.
Faith in Action of Upper Pinellas is a coalition of neighbors helping neighbors. We work with a community of trained volunteers to provide transportation, in-home services, respite care and home visits to elderly and persons with disabilities. Our services are provided without charge regardless of age, income, race, religion, nationality, language, sex, sexual preference, or physical handicap. FIAUP is part of the nationwide program "Faith in Action" of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
In 1993 the Dunedin Committee on Aging saw a great need for the older adults and homebound in this area in need for services that would allow them to remain independent in their own home as long as possible. A task force was formed and in January of 1995 Upper Pinellas Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers (UPIVC) received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation along with a matching grant from the Dana Beck Fancher Missions Fund and opened its doors in late summer of that year. After a slow start with personnel, UPIVC was able to establish a staff and concentrate on developing the program in the upper Pinellas area in 1996. UPIVC become Faith in Action of Upper Pinellas (FIAUP) in 2000 to better identify with the Faith in Action headquarters at the Wake Forest Medical Center in Winston-Salem, NC. FIAUP has been growing steadily from that time and now has a core of dedicated volunteers who realize great benefits from volunteering to help others.
Pinellas County has more than 80,000 residents aged 65+ living alone and is home to over 35,000 men and women older than 85. It is among the highest-ranking counties in the state for residents in that age group. Our mission is to help older adults, those homebound and persons with disabilities to remain independent in their own homes as long as possible through the efforts of volunteer caregivers.
