Barnabas Uplift helps individuals and communities use their God-given skills and resources to lift themselves out of poverty by providing resources to start small businesses, find stable employment in a career such as health care, build savings to create economic security for themselves, their families and their communities, and access affordable health care, the Earned Income Tax Credit and substance abuse education. Barnabas Uplift works with all low-income individuals and families, including new Iowans.

Individual, family and community self-sufficiency is built by eliminating the causes of poverty. Barnabas identifies these causes as lack of economic opportunity and access to affordable and quality health care, reliable transportation, adequate housing and child care.

The name Barnabas honors a member of the second set of Apostles, Joseph, who was nicknamed Barnabas, which means "son of encouragement."