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Somerville MA | IRS ruling year: 1987 | EIN: 04-2897447
Our mission is to provide homeless and nearly homeless individuals and families with individualized supportive services and tailored housing solutions with a goal of ... (More)
Our mission is to provide homeless and nearly homeless individuals and families with individualized supportive services and tailored housing solutions with a goal of obtaining and maintaining affordable housing. The Somerville Homeless Coalition was created by the community’s grassroots response to the social crisis of homelessness in 1985.
Today, SHC transforms lives by providing services, support, and housing for nearly 9,000 individuals. (Less)
Great
This charity's score is 99%, earning it a Four-Star rating. If this organization aligns with your passions and values, you can give with confidence.
This overall score is calculated from multiple beacon scores: 32% Accountability & Finance, 50% Impact & Results, 7% Leadership & Adaptability, 10% Culture & Community. Learn more about our criteria and methodology.
We recognize that not all metrics and beacons equally predict a charity’s success. The percentage each beacon contributes to the organization’s overall rating depends on the number of beacons an organization has earned.
Use the tool below to select different beacons to see how the weighting shifts when only one, two, or three beacons are earned.
Rating histories are available for a growing number of rated organizations. Check back later to see if this organization has a rating history!
The IRS is significantly delayed in processing nonprofits' annual tax filings (Forms 990). As a result, the Accountability & Finance score for Somerville Homeless Coalition Incorporated is outdated and the overall rating may not be representative of its current operations. Please check with the charity directly for any questions you may have.
Somerville Homeless Coalition Incorporated has earned a 100% for the Accountability & Finance beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon provides an assessment of a charity's financial health (financial efficiency, sustainability, and trustworthiness) and its commitment to governance practices and policies.
This Accountability & Finance score represents IRS Form 990 data up until FY 2020, which is the most recent Form 990 currently available to us.
Learn more
Full Credit
Partial Credit
No Credit
Not ApplicableBoard Composition - 13/13 - 25/25 ptsBoard Composition - 13/13 - 25/25 pts
Charity Navigator looks for at least 3 board members, with more than 50% of those members identified as independent (not salaried).
The presence of an independent governing body is strongly recommended by many industry professionals to allow for full deliberation and diversity of thinking on governance and other organizational matters.
Source: IRS Form 990
Independent Audit or Financial Review - Audited - 20/20 ptsIndependent Audit or Financial Review - Audited - 20/20 pts
An Audit, Review, or Compilation provides important information about financial accountability and accuracy. Organizations are scored based on their Total Revenue Amount:
| Total Revenue Amount | Expectation to Receive Credit |
|---|---|
| $1 million or higher | Expected to complete an audit |
| $500,000 - $1 million | Expected to complete an audit, review, or compilation |
| Less than $500,000 | No expectation (removed from scoring methodology) |
Source: IRS Form 990
Conflict of Interest Policy - Listed - 3/3 ptsConflict of Interest Policy - Listed - 3/3 pts
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a conflict of interest policy on the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy protects the organization and by extension those it serves, when it is considering entering into a transaction that may benefit the private interest of an officer, director and/or key employee of the organization.
Source: IRS Form 990
Board Meeting Minutes - Documented - 3/3 ptsBoard Meeting Minutes - Documented - 3/3 pts
Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the Form 990 that the organization has this process in place as an accountability and transparency measure.
An official record of the events that take place during a board meeting ensures that a contemporaneous document exists for future reference.
Source: IRS Form 990
Document Retention and Destruction - Listed - 3/3 ptsDocument Retention and Destruction - Listed - 3/3 pts
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a document retention and destruction policy per the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy establishes guidelines for the handling, backing up, archiving and destruction of documents. These guidelines foster good record keeping procedures that promote data integrity.
Source: IRS Form 990
Whistleblower Policy - Listed - 3/3 ptsWhistleblower Policy - Listed - 3/3 pts
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a whistleblower policy per the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy outlines procedures for handling employee complaints, as well as a confidential way for employees to report financial or other types of mismanagement.
Source: IRS Form 990
Website - Listed - 3/3 ptsWebsite - Listed - 3/3 pts
Charity Navigator looks for a website on the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency metric.
Nonprofits act in the public trust and reporting publicly on activities is an important component.
Source: IRS Form 990
Full CreditPartial CreditNo CreditNot ApplicableLiabilities to Assets Ratio - 16.78% - 15/15 ptsLiabilities to Assets Ratio - 16.78% - 15/15 pts
The Liabilities to Assets Ratio is determined by Total Liabilities divided by Total Assets (most recent 990). This ratio is an indicator of an organization’s solvency and/or long-term sustainability.
| Liabilities to Assets Ratio | Amount of Credit Received |
|---|---|
| Less than 50% | Full Credit |
| 50% - 59.9% | Partial Credit |
| 60% or more | No Credit |
Source: IRS Form 990
Program Expense Ratio - 80.97% - 25/25 ptsProgram Expense Ratio - 80.97% - 25/25 pts
The Program Expense Ratio is determined by Program Expenses divided by Total Expense (average of most recent three 990s). This measure reflects the percent of its total expenses a charity spends on the programs and services it exists to deliver.
| Program Expense Percentage | Amount of Credit Received |
|---|---|
| 70% or higher | Full Credit |
| 60% - 69.9% | Partial Credit |
| 50% - 59.9% | Zero Points for Program Expense Score |
| Below 50% | Zero Points for Both Program Expense AND Liabilities to Assets Scores |
Source: IRS Form 990
This chart displays the trend of revenue and expenses over the past several years for this organization, as reported on their IRS Form 990.
Presented here are up to five of this organization's highest compensated employees. This compensation data includes salary, cash bonuses, and expense accounts and is displayed exactly how it is reported to the IRS. The amounts do not include nontaxable benefits, deferred compensation, or other amounts not reported on Form W-2. In some cases, these amounts may include compensation from related organizations. Read the IRS policies for compensation reporting
Source: IRS Form 990 (page 7), filing year 2020
Below are some key data points from the Exempt Organization IRS Business Master File (BMF) for this organization. Learn more about the BMF on the IRS website
Activities:
Other housing activities (BMF activity code: 399)
Foundation Status:
Organization which receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or the general public 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) (BMF foundation code: 15)
Affiliation:
Independent - the organization is an independent organization or an independent auxiliary (i.e., not affiliated with a National, Regional, or Geographic grouping of organizations). (BMF affiliation code: 3)
The Form 990 is a document that nonprofit organizations file with the IRS annually. We leverage finance and accountability data from it to form Encompass ratings. Click here to search for this organization's Forms 990 on the IRS website (if any are available). Simply enter the organization's name (Somerville Homeless Coalition Incorporated) or EIN (042897447) in the 'Search Term' field.
This organization was impacted by COVID-19 in a way that effected their financial health in 2020. This normally would have reduced their star rating. Due to the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, we give charities such as this one the opportunity to share the story of COVID's impact on them, and doing this pauses our revision of their rating. Charities may submit their own pandemic responses through their nonprofit portal.
Somerville Homeless Coalition Incorporated reported being impacted by COVID-19 in the following ways:
Program Delivery
Staffing
Administrative Capacity
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's operations financially:
Covid emergency state and federal funding was received to support our operations which we continued to run at full capacity due to our status as an emergency service provider in the human services field Local community donations were received which helped to meet the increase in operation capacity especially at our food pantry ie. allowing for bi-monthly visits for clients to the food pantry and pivoting to a home delivery service for the sick, elderly, disabled and immunocompromised
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's delivery of programs:
For our housed clients requiring case management/supportive services, our organization changed to telephone and outdoor social distanced meetings to check on the well-being and progress of clients Whereas we increased the opening hours at our adult shelter, we decreased the capacity of beds to allow for social distancing For our food insecure clients, we moved from a marketplace food pantry operation to home deliveries and changed our weekly community meal to take-out option to keep everyone safe
How this organization adapted to changing conditions caused by COVID-19:
The emergency shelter operational hours increased to allow for unsheltered guests to stay clean and healthy In the summer of 2020, we created an office schedule to limit capacity in line with CDC protocols and new, virtual platforms were used for staff and leadership meetings Once the main office reopened, walk in hours were provided to homeless clients so they could access services and meet basic needs of food, sanitation and water All clients were and continue to be provided with masks and hand sanitation We hosted one of the first COVID vaccine clinics for the homeless in January 2021 We created a stronger eviction prevention program to meet the increasing needs of clients once the eviction moratorium was lifted We increased the number of monthly food deliveries from 20 to 250 to meet the needs of parents, elderly, disabled, and immunocompromised The homeless street outreach team began taking the office to the streets. For example, housing applications were completed outside
Innovations the organization intends to continue permanently after the pandemic:
Increased hours of operation at the shelter to allow for street homeless, to take showers, clean clothes and to eat Continued provision of basic hygiene and sanitation need of clients Increase the capacity of our rapid response program through eviction prevention services Increased the staff capacity of the outreach team to bring services to our clients rather than attending meetings at the office
Somerville Homeless Coalition Incorporated has earned a 100% for the Impact & Results beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon estimates the actual impact a charity has on the lives of those it serves, and determines whether it is making good use of donor resources to achieve that impact.
Learn more
Full CreditPartial CreditNo CreditNot Applicable
Program
Adult Shelter and Family Shelter
Activities
Somerville Homeless Coalition provides people experiencing homelessness with a temporary place to stay.
Program Type
Emergency Shelter
Beneficiaries Served
People experiencing homelessness;Families;Adults;Men;Women
Program Geography
2 counties and cities in MA
Time Period of Data
7/1/2016 to 6/30/2017
Outcomes: Changes in the lives of those served by a nonprofit. They can be caused by the nonprofit.
Costs: The money spent by a nonprofit and its partners and beneficiaries.
Impact: Outcome caused by a nonprofit relative to its cost.
Cost-effectiveness: A judgment as to whether the cost was a good use of resources to cause the outcome.
Outcome Metric
A night of shelter for a person experiencing homelessness
Outcome Data Source
Ratings are based on data the nonprofit itself collects on its work. We use the most recent year with sufficient data. Typically, this data allows us to calculate direct changes in participants' lives, such as increased income.
Method for Attributing Outcomes
We don't know if the observed changes were caused by the nonprofit's program or something else happening at the same time (e.g., a participant got a raise). To determine causation, we take the outcomes we observe and subtract an estimate of the outcomes that would have happened even without the program (i.e., counterfactual outcomes).
We assume that the provision of shelter by one nonprofit does not diminish the provision of shelter by any other (neighboring) nonprofit. We also assume there is, in general, no slack capacity in the homeless shelter system. In the absence of a given shelter, beneficiaries would not be able to stay at another shelter because other shelters are assumed to have no beds to spare. We therefore set the counterfactual to zero.
Cost Data Source
After estimating the program's outcomes, we need to determine how much it cost to achieve those outcomes. All monetary costs are counted, whether they are borne by a nonprofit service deliverer or by the nonprofit’s public and private partners.
Cost Calculation
$726,584 program costs + $0 partner costs + $0 beneficiary costs = $726,584 total costs
We calculate impact, defined as the change in outcomes attributable to a program divided by the cost to achieve those outcomes.
Impact Calculation
$726,584 total costs / 11,866 nights of shelter provided = roughly $60 provides a night of shelter to a person experiencing homelessness.
Benchmark for Rating
Impact & Results scores of emergency shelters are based on the cost of providing a night of shelter relative to the Fair Market Rent in that county. Programs receive an Impact & Results score of 100 if they are less than 200% the Fair Market Rent and a score of 80 if they are less than 400%. If a nonprofit reports impact but doesn't meet the benchmark for cost-effectiveness, it earns a score of 65.
Determination
Highly cost-effective
Somerville Homeless Coalition Incorporated reported its three largest programs on its FY 2020 Form 990 as:
Spent in most recent FY
Percent of program expenses
HOUSING SERVICES: CASE MANAGEMENT; HOUSING SEARCH; PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING; HOMELESS PREVENTION AND RE-HOUSING; RENTAL ASSISTANCE SUBSIDIES. DIRECTLY SUB-LEASED 41 SCATTERED-SITE APARTMENTS TO FO ... (More)
HOUSING SERVICES: CASE MANAGEMENT; HOUSING SEARCH; PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING; HOMELESS PREVENTION AND RE-HOUSING; RENTAL ASSISTANCE SUBSIDIES. DIRECTLY SUB-LEASED 41 SCATTERED-SITE APARTMENTS TO FORMERLY HOMELESS AND DISABLED INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES-INCLUDED DEEP HOUSING SUBSIDY, FURNITURE AND FURNISHINGS, AND UTILITY ASSISTANCE. ADMINISTERED 8 SHELTER-PLUS-CARE RENTAL ASSISTANCE VOUCHERS, INCLUDING THE PROVISION OF SUPPORT SERVICES. PROVIDED HOME-BASED SUPPORTIVE SERVICES TO A TOTAL OF 128 HOUSEHOLDS CONSISTING OF 152 PEOPLE. PROVIDED CASE MANAGEMENT AND HOUSING SEARCH BENEFITING 70 HOUSEHOLDS, INCLUDING 93 PEOPLE. PREVENTED 71 EVICTIONS HELPING 126 PEOPLE AVOID HOMELESSNESS. (Less)
Spent in most recent FY
Percent of program expenses
ADULT SHELTER: OPERATED 16 BED ADULT EMERGENCY HOMELESS SHELTER; PROVIDED OVER 5,500 SHELTER BED NIGHTS; SHELTERED 40 INDIVIDUALS; 10 INDIVIDUALS MOVED INTO PERMANENT HOUSING.
Spent in most recent FY
Percent of program expenses
FAMILY SHELTER: OPERATED 5 UNIT FAMILY EMERGENCY HOMELESS SHELTER; PROVIDED APPROXIMATELY 5,000 SHELTER BED NIGHTS; SHELTERED 15 FAMILIES CONSISTING OF 24 CHILDREN; 8 FAMILY HOUSEHOLDS MOVED INTO PERM ... (More)
FAMILY SHELTER: OPERATED 5 UNIT FAMILY EMERGENCY HOMELESS SHELTER; PROVIDED APPROXIMATELY 5,000 SHELTER BED NIGHTS; SHELTERED 15 FAMILIES CONSISTING OF 24 CHILDREN; 8 FAMILY HOUSEHOLDS MOVED INTO PERMANENT HOUSING. (Less)
Somerville Homeless Coalition Incorporated has earned a 93% for the Culture & Community beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon provides an assessment of the organization's culture and connectedness to the community it serves.
Learn more
Full CreditPartial CreditNo CreditNot ApplicableConstituent Feedback - Data Available - 100/100 ptsConstituent Feedback - Data Available - 100/100 pts
30% of beacon score
This organization reported that it is collecting feedback from the constituents and/or communities it serves. Charity Navigator believes nonprofit organizations that engage in inclusive practices, such as collecting feedback from the people and communities they serve, may be more effective.
How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Paper surveys, Other means
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences
With whom does your organization share the feedback you got from the people you serve?
Our staff
What challenges does your organization face in collecting feedback from the people you serve?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome
Briefly describe a recent change that your organization made in response to feedback from the people you serve.
Beverly conducting client equity study. Increased language in staff and written materials as ways to increase equity in the services. Increase accessibility and decrease barriers to our services.
Equity Practices - Data Available - 90/100 ptsEquity Practices - Data Available - 90/100 pts
70% of beacon score
This organization's score of 90 is a passing score. The organization reported that it is implementing 7 Equity Practices. Charity Navigator believes nonprofit organizations implementing effective equity policies and practices can enhance a nonprofit's decision-making, staff motivation, innovation, and effectiveness.
Equity Practices (3/7) | |
|---|---|
We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race. | |
We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and/or portfolios. | |
We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization/'s programs, portfolios, and the populations served. | |
We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support. | |
We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders. | |
We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured | |
We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization. | |
Equity Policies and Procedures (4/7) | |
|---|---|
We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity. | |
We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions. | |
We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization. | |
We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board. | |
We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability. | |
We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team. | |
We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization. | |
Somerville Homeless Coalition Incorporated has earned a 100% for the Leadership & Adaptability beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon provides an assessment of the organization's leadership capacity, strategic thinking and planning, and ability to innovate or respond to changes in constituent demand/need or other relevant social and economic conditions to achieve the organization's mission.
Learn more
Full CreditPartial CreditNo CreditNot ApplicableMission - 10/10 ptsMission - 10/10 pts
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization's mission
TO PROVIDE HOMELESS AND NEAR HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES WITH INDIVIDUALIZED SUPPORTIVE SERVICES AND TAILORED HOUSING SOLUTIONS WITH A GOAL OF OBTAINING AND MAINTAINING AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
Vision - 10/10 ptsVision - 10/10 pts
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization’s vision.
Help people gain access to permanent housing. Utilize SHC shelters as a short-term program to triage, assess and stabilize families and individuals in crisis. Utilize our case management and expand our prevention programs to help people live as independently as possible. Develop innovative programs to reduce the need for emergency systems of care in the community. Build alliances with affordable housing providers and other organizations that serve homeless individuals and families.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Goals - 20/20 ptsGoals - 20/20 pts
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking and goal setting through sharing their most important strategic goals.
Goal One: Enhancing our service delivery programs to ensure that they are equitable and accessible to all, including providing documentation and resources in multiple languages
Goal Type: Grow, expand, scale or increase access to the existing programs and services.
Goal Two: Expanding our intervention model at our food pantry, to help ease the social, emotional and psychological effects of not being able to provide food for the family or a family on the brink of eviction
Goal Type: New program(s) based on observed changes in needs among our constituencies/communities served.
Goal Three: Opening an Engagement Center to create a space for homeless clients to meet and access recovery and wellness services
Goal Type: This goal reflects our commitment to further our advocacy work for our organization and or cause area.
Leadership Development - 15/15 ptsLeadership Development - 15/15 pts
The nonprofit provides evidence of investment in leadership development
In August 2020 all leadership and staff members of SHC were trained in understanding race within the workplace. By September, the SHC Board of Directors created a Diversity & Inclusion Committee. In a parallel activity, SHC modified policy and procedure which resulted in the creation of referral forms to our services in primary multiple languages spoken by our client base.In December 2020, the Diversity & Inclusion Committee appointed a very knowledgeable consultant at TSNE (Third Sector New England) to partner with SHC on a racial equity change process. In early 2021 a DEI action group committee met for the first time to begin the co-design and subsequent creation of an action plan for implementing a racial equity lens at SHC. As of 2022, we are proud to have DEI as one of our top focuses and we continue to modify policy, procedure, culture and mindsets to ensure that we meet objectives on SHC’s equity action plan.
Mobilizing for Mission - 15/15 ptsMobilizing for Mission - 15/15 pts
The nonprofit provides evidence of leadership through focusing externally and mobilizing resources for the mission.
Strategic Partnerships
Networks of Collective Impact Efforts
Raising Awareness
Community Building
Our Executive Director takes a lead role, along with his leadership team, in the following meetings which collaboratively address housing, homelessness and food insecurity: Department of Housing and Community Development DHCD (State) meetings, Massachusetts Continuum of Care meetings; Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (MHSA); Metro Boston Youth and Young Adult (YYA) group; City of Somerville's Immigrant Services Unit meeting; Cambridge and Somerville Housing and Benefits Coalition; Homes for Families; Arlington Human Services Network; Cambridge Homelessness Committee; Somerville Eviction Prevention meetings; MDOT- Multidisciplinary Outreach Team; Greater Boston Hunger Network; Greater Boston Food Bank Working Group and SNAP Coalition. In addition, we are a SNAP Outreach Provider Partner in collaboration with the DTA and, we are the only Somerville provider with this official designation which allows us to support the application process for these crucial benefits.
Adaptability Story - 30/30 ptsAdaptability Story - 30/30 pts
The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year.
Whereas many organizations closed their doors, we opened our doors wider. We accepted more homeless clients into our shelter to stay clean, warm, hydrated and dry. We are now pursuing opening the first homeless Engagement Center in Somerville. We collaborated with city and local resources to meet the exponential growth of food insecurity and increased our client base by 94%. We became the main food home delivery provider in the city, providing an average of 250 home deliveries a month, compared to 20 per month pre-COVID. We identified that many of our food insecure clients required support beyond food and created a case management position based on-site at the pantry with the aspiration of moving away from a “crisis response model” to a proactive “upstream intervention model”. This paradigm shift allows for more critical time and opportunity to introduce our clientele to a greater range of services and support with the aim to increase household income (e.g. access to job programs) and decrease household expenditures (e.g.,securing benefits), thereby fostering a more stabilizing lifestyle. As a result of this novel staff role, we became a SNAP Outreach Provider Partner in collaboration with the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) and University of Massachusetts. We are the only Somerville provider with this official designation which allows us to directly support the application process for SNAP benefits on behalf of households that are eligible but unenrolled. Similarly, we are able to assist currently enrolled SNAP households with the annual recertification process, which can be convoluted and difficult to navigate. We prevented over 139% more evictions compared to pre-COVID years and have significantly ramped up staffing to accommodate this emerging need.
Impact & Results
Accountability & Finance
Culture & Community
Leadership & Adaptability
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