Help USA

Legal name: Help USA Inc and Affiliates

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
911922828
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, United States
Phone
(212) 400-7000
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Homeless Shelters

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$141,265,922
Expenses
$145,236,805
Assets
$241,492,304
Liabilities
$212,221,564

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

Leadership & pay

37 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DANIEL LEHMAN (PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • DANIEL LEHMAN (PRESIDENT/CEO): $347,550 total reported compensation
  • RONNIE SILVERMAN (SECRETARY): $298,913 total reported compensation
  • DANIEL FARRELL (VP FOR PROGRAMS): $290,731 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

HELP USA works to ensure that everyone has a place to call home. That vision became H.E.L.P. 1—the first facility of its kind. Recognized by Congress as a national demonstration model, H.E.L.P. 1 redefined how the country could respond to homelessness: not as a short-term crisis to contain, but as a systemic challenge to solve with housing, services, and dignity at its core. Four decades later, HELP USA operates more than 70 sites and programs across the country and has supported nearly 550,000 people. The founding concept of finding a better way still drives the mission, and each day HELP fights back against homelessness at every stage with prevention, emergency shelter, supportive services, and permanent, affordable housing offered to those in crisis.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2025, help USA operated close to 3,000 units of transitional housing and served approximately close to 17,000 homeless people in family and individual transitional housing programs. These programs offered safe, service-rich residential environments and worked with the residents to achieve employment and permanent housing.during 2025, help development corp. Operated 1,712 units of permanent affordable, which at 25 residences across the united states. In addition, it has 4 projects with an additional 456 units under development. See schedule oin these programs, help USA housed families and individuals who were formerly homeless, at risk of homelessness, and living with disabilities such as serious mental illness. They provide robust clinical and recreational services for tenants.in 2025, help USA provided non-residential social and supportive services to over 18,000 individuals and members of families who were homeless, at risk of homelessness, or low income. These services included homelessness prevention, rapid re-housing, case management services, and employment services. Help also provides domestic violence services to hundreds of families at risk of, or experiencing, domestic violence. Help started a new non-residential rapid rehousing program in philadelphia.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 90% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.9%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 89.4%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th 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; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.8%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.66; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.88; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.2%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 91.9% of revenue deployed · 89.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $129.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $348K · 37 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.8M reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 15 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 53 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 52/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.