Carolina Comfort Coalition

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
204114888
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2021
Forms available
Form 990 2021
Location
Mooresville, NC, USA
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Health - General and Rehabilitative N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$136,758
Expenses
$239,773
Assets
$154,308
Liabilities
$7,681

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Nora Oliver (President)
  • David Simon (Vice President)
  • Rochelle Dearman (Executive Director)

People named in this filing

  • Dominic Vertorano (Director)
  • Denise Graham (Director)
  • H M Cook (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 2021. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Serenity House is a community organization that bridges the gap for hospice families by providing a three bed group home setting at no charge for short term end of life care by trained volunteers and nurses.

What it reported doing in 2021

The Serenity House is a unique model of care developed in the Rochester, NY area at the time of the AIDS epidemic. Cheryl Pletcher RN, a hospice nurse, moved from Rochester NY to North Carolina. The fragile families in North Carolina did not have access to the comfort care home option. The hospice benefit was established on the premise that the program would be administered in the home setting where family members would be available to provide the 24 hour care needed. Over the past 30 years, families have been gradually stretched and stressed by the cultural changes - financial breakdown, divorce, fewer children nearby and aging population. Another vital option for care is needed in North Carolina and every state to work beside hospice organizations to provide a safety net for hospice patients without sufficient care giving to remain safely at home through the final days of life. Our care is short term, non-medical family care in a residential setting. We operate in the Mooresville NC area to serve local hospice organizations. Our Serenity House location is the only comfort care home in North Carolina. Our plans include assisting other groups in North Carolina and outside the state to develop a comfort care home which would serve the needs of another location with community support. In 2019 we received 134 requests for admission for a patient in need. We were able to serve 26 of those requests. No family is charged for up to 3 months of non-skilled end of life care. All financial support is raised within the community from churches, business sponsors and individuals with a passion for our service to the community. Volunteers from the area are trained to provide family care and provide care in 4 hour shifts. In 2019 we recorded 5,800 hours of volunteer care with volunteers from 17 to 83 years of age including nursing and other medical students. The comfort care home enriches a community as it demonstrates that life is precious to the very last moments. Hospice organizations provide the professional services under insurance or government guidelines. Serenity House provides the shelter and hands on love that is especially needed for a good finish to life.

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 100% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 21
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 75.9%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.77 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90%; rating input score 90; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: -75.3%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.64; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.2% per year; rating input score 0; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 75.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 10 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $182K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2010 to 2021
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 17/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.