SAN DIEGO – As 2025 concluded, nonprofit Support The Enlisted Project (STEP) opened its new $6.5 million, 15,300 square-foot national headquarters at 8320 Juniper Creek Ln., signaling a new era of expansion for the organization, which provides financial assistance to junior military and recent veteran families in times of crisis.
With the new space comes significant infrastructure and capacity improvements, made to support STEP’s growing team as it brings its services to additional states.
“We’re talking about doubling in three years and then doing that two more times… So we’ve got to have solid platforms to do that,” STEP co-founder and CEO Tony Teravainen said. “We’ve got the team. We’ve got the building. Now we’re really focusing on the growth.”
STEP’s new headquarters are double the size of its previous space. When purchasing the property, the organization put $4 million down and financed the remaining $2.5 million.
Approximately $250,000 was invested in startup costs for the new facility.
Since its founding in 2012, STEP’s core Financial Wellness Counseling program has supported 10,000 military servicemembers and families to permanently overcome financial crises. The program boasts a 90% long-term success rate, addressing not only financial challenges but also food insecurity, homelessness and mental health crises.
Less than 3% of clients return for additional support.
Teravainen pointed towards one man’s story as an example of how STEP’s services can change lives. The man came to the organization originally seeking suicide prevention services.
“Part of this guy’s problem was that he didn’t have electricity and water for six weeks. He had to send his kids to live with an aunt while he was seeking mental health support,” Teravainen said. “He’s happy to be dropping his kids off at school because he’s got his kids back. And it that’s what he wants to thank us for — putting my family back together, giving us hope that we can make it into the future and getting my arms around my financial situation.”
Expanding Impact
Last year, STEP grew its national client base by 40%, expanding its presence in California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii. The nonprofit has grown in budget and capacity every year, Teravainen said, and plans to meet its budget goals this year.
The organization also recently secured partnerships with major mental health agencies, including Stop Soldier Suicide, PsychArmor and Face The Fight.
A major piece of STEP’s expansion efforts was its Capacity Building Campaign, launched in 2023, which has raised $5.85 million to fund its organizational growth.
“This is where we are at the end of our first decade, and it’s really been like: Go. We’ve been marching forward, charging,” Teravainen said. “We’ve demonstrated we could raise money. We demonstrated we could serve the families across a large geography. We demonstrated we could still be effective. Where do you see us at the end of the next decade?”
Teravainen said that STEP hopes to make its programming available to all military by the end of the next decade, a task that he describes as a “tall order.” However, Teravainen drafted a strategic plan to get STEP to that goal. One of the first steps was opening the new headquarters.
In the new year, STEP plans to continue expanding its Financial Wellness Counseling program remotely nationwide and has physical locations planned for Colorado in 2028 and Texas in 2030.
As the organization grows, Teravainen has the “ambitious” plan to bring on a new team member each quarter.
Hands-On Crisis Response
Since its founding, STEP’s approach has never been one-size-fits-all. As a U.S. Navy veteran, Teravainen acknowledged that each individual in STEP’s client base has different needs. Tackling big issues as a nonprofit, he said, can be a daunting task.
“If these were all easy problems to fix, then there would be easy solutions, and they’d be all be fixed. But for many years, we’ve been throwing a lot of money at a lot of these problems,” Teravainen said. “Solutions for all these issues are internal to each of these clients, the families, the victims. They have to decide they want to change, and this is hard work — it’s messy.”
STEP couples personalized financial support with support from its social workers to maximize impact.
“We crawl under the hood with every family, and they get 15 or 20 hours’ worth of counseling,” Teravainen said. “Our social workers have to wade into their world and help them overcome every challenge for why they think they’re a failure and can never manage their money.”
As a strong military town, Teravainen said the San Diego community has been very supportive of STEP’s work. To maintain its effectiveness, the organization conducts physical outreach on military bases in order to assess needs.
One of STEP’s main focuses within the next year is strengthening its branding and marketing strategy in order to generate more awareness nationwide.
“A lot of us drive these [branded] STEP cars around. One woman got flagged down by someone at a light,” Teravainen recalled. “[The person said], ‘You saved my life. I had nowhere else to go. I called you and I’m here today. I got through it. You helped me through it, and I want to thank you for saving my life. I don’t feel like a failure as a parent anymore. I have hope for the future.’”
Support The Enlisted Project
FOUNDED: 2012
CEO: Tony Teravainen
HEADQUARTERS: San Diego
BUSINESS: Nonprofit
EMPLOYEES: 23
BUDGET: FY26: $4.46 M
WEBSITE: teamstepusa.org
CONTACT: [email protected]
SOCIAL IMPACT: 1,000+ young military service members and their families, lifted out of a financial crisis. Over 10,000 since 2012. 92% of clients have never returned for additional help.
NOTABLE: Founded by veterans, all 5 social workers are veterans and/or military spouses. CEO and Co-Founder Tony Teravainen grew up in an Air Force family, and spent 9 years as a nuclear submariner.
Born and raised in San Diego, Madison takes great pride in local storytelling. Her coverage at the San Diego Business Journal includes tourism, hospitality, nonprofits, education and retail. An alumna of San Diego State University’s journalism program, she has written for publications including The San Diego Union-Tribune and The San Diego Sun. At the 2024 San Diego Press Club awards, Madison was recognized for her exemplary profile writing. She was also a speaker for the 2023 TEDx Conference at Bonita Vista High School. When she’s not working on her next story, Madison can be found performing music at a local restaurant or on one of San Diego’s many hiking trails.
