Hers Helping Empower Reentry Service

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
933261628
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Monterey, CA, USA
Phone
8317373695
Rating
53
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,762,838
Expenses
$1,638,872
Assets
$1,186,806
Liabilities
$62,825

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DEBBIE MARTIN (PRESIDENT)
  • JESSE ARMENTA (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • BRITTANY LEE (CEO)
  • MONIQUE A RODRIGUEZ (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • MONIQUE A RODRIGUEZ (CEO): $228,896 total reported compensation
  • BRITTANY LEE (CEO): $228,377 total reported compensation
  • DEBBIE MARTIN (PRESIDENT): $500 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Helping empower reentry services (h.e.r.s. Of ca) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support individuals and families (especially those impacted by incarceration and systemic barriers) in achieving stability, independence, and long-term success. It provides compassionate, traumainformed, community-based services such as enhanced care management, housing navigation, and wraparound support to promote housing security, health, personal growth, and successful reintegration into the community.

What it reported doing in 2024

H.e.r.s. Provides immediate, hands-on support to justice-impacted individuals and low-income families in monterey county and surrounding central coast communities by stabilizing their housing, health, and basic needs through enhanced care management, housing navigation, benefit enrollment, and coordinated referrals to community resources. The focus is on crisis prevention, continuity of care, and helping participants successfully engage with services that reduce risk of homelessness and recidivism. H.e.r.s. Aims to break cycles of incarceration, homelessness, and instability by empowering individuals and families to achieve long-term self-sufficiency, improved health outcomes, and sustained housing stability. Over time, the organization aims to strengthen community reintegration, reduce recidivism, and build pathways to independence through comprehensive, trauma-informed, and person-centered support services. An estimated 100-300 individuals/families per year are served, based on scope of services like housing navigation, enhanced care management, and reentry programs in a county context.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 81% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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.

The verdict

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 39
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 77
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 35.4%; rating input score 35
  • Program expense ratio: 59.6%; rating input score 60
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 40.7%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.72; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 28.1%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 35.4% of revenue deployed · 59.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $977K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $229K · 7 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 35/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.