Dwelling House of Hope Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
352374752
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2021, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Lowell, MA, USA
Phone
8666749988
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Food Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$476,672
Expenses
$432,859
Assets
$280,811
Liabilities
$66,350

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LEVENIA L FURUSA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • DAVIDZO WOGHIREN (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • LEVENIA L FURUSA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $79,040 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Alleviate poverty among New-Americans and low-income families in the Merrimack Valley through food assistance, educational, social and cultural initiatives which foster diversity, inclusivity and equity

What it reported doing in 2025

Dwelling House of Hope organized numerous community programs throughout 2025 aimed at promoting health, dignity, awareness, and support for underserved individuals and families in the Merrimack communities. Key initiatives included; hygiene and vaccine outreach, recognition events honoring community leaders and parents, awareness marches addressing substance use and hunger, and multicultural celebrations that fostered unity and inclusion.Dwelling House of Hope also provided direct assistance through backpack giveaways, Thanksgiving food distributions, holiday meals, and toy donations to support families and children in need.

Operating model

Revenue model
Affiliate-supported. 90% of the money available for current operations came from contributions from related organizations.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 31
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.8%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 90.1%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $144.86 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 9.2%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.65; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 18.3%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17.5% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 19.4% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.2% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.8% of revenue deployed · 90.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 6 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $433K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $79K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.