Going Home Hawaii

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
463483417
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2017, Form 990-N 2015
Location
Hilo, HI, USA
Phone
8084912437
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Rehabilitation Services for Offenders

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,675,383
Expenses
$1,885,165
Assets
$1,648,276
Liabilities
$1,286,303

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LESTER ESTRELLA (CEO/PRESIDEN)

Highest reported compensation

  • LESTER ESTRELLA (CEO/PRESIDEN): $113,904 total reported compensation
  • MICHELLE MANALO (FINANCE OFFI): $68,635 total reported compensation
  • KIMI LI PALACIO (PROG ADMINIS): $58,425 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

We focus on providing supportive services to justice-involved individuals in hawai'i. Our main goal is to lower the state's recidivism rate through reentry housing and related support.

What it reported doing in 2024

Going home hawai'i provides the only facilities on hawai'i island dedicated exclusively to serving justice-involved individuals. The organization offers both reentry and recovery housing (rrh) and permanent supportive housing (psh) to support stabilization and successful reintegration. Programs are designed for longer-term stays to allow participants to pursue employment, education, and permanent housing goals. In hilo, our reentry and recovery housing (rrh), also regarded as our pu`uhonua wellness center (pwc) consists of: pwc-m (9 men), pwc-m 2 (8 men), pwc-m semi-independent (5 men) and pwc-w (8 women). Total design capacity: 30 beds. In kona, the 3-apartment building complex has a design capacity of up to 40 rrh beds across 10 two-bedroom units, 10 permanent supportive housing beds across 5 two-bedroom units, and 36 permanent supportive housing beds across 9 two- bedroom units. Total design capacity: 86 beds. Participants must be recently justice-involved, employed or seeking employment or education, able to live independently, and maintain sobriety. Limited affordable rental units are also available for individuals needing extended time to secure stable housing. Actual operational capacity may vary depending on staffing, participant acuity, unit readiness, funding, and safety considerations. This distinction allows ghh to maintain quality, compliance, and participant stability rather than filling beds beyond what the program can responsibly support.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 62% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 75
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.3%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 75.8%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.1 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 56; 56th 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: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -12.5%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.87; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.78; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.2%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17.7% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 23.3% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 33.7% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85.3% of revenue deployed · 75.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $114K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.