Block Island Housing Initiative Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 882003088
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2025–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2024
- Location
- Block Island, RI, USA
- Phone
- 4014657986
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Housing Rehabilitation
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $236,500
- Expenses
- $201,627
- Assets
- $82,659
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Robin Lewis Vila (President)
People named in this filing
- Robin Lewis Vila (President)
- Susan Bush (Treasurer)
- David Howe (Director)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The purpose of the Block Island Housing Initiative is to provide attainable housing for year-round residents and seasonal employees who are essential to Block Island's quality of life. Our initial focus will be providing grants that help homeowners convert existing living space into 513: Residential Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). Our future goals may include the purchase and renovation of existing housing, construction of new housing, as well as any other methods that prove effective to accomplish our mission.
What it reported doing in 2025
Year-Round Community Rentals was launched in 2025. This program is part of BIHI's ongoing effort to ensure that those who live and work on Block Island have access to stable housing, making it possible for our community to thrive year-round. By offering an added incentive, BIHI hopes to encourage property owners to join the movement toward sustaining a vibrant, resilient island community.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and some filed totals do not add up.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 81
- Transparency & Controls: 88
- Accountability: 76
- Sustainability: 53
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 85.2%; rating input score 85
- Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 14.7%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.41; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- Where the money goes: 85.2% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $202K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
- Consistency: 12 of 13 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.