Home for Refugees USA

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
821274285
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Irvine, CA, USA
Phone
9499301119
Rating
48
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Ethnic, Immigrant Centers

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$268,935
Expenses
$280,448
Assets
$27,972
Liabilities
$8,554

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Minda Schweizer (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Minda Schweizer (Executive Director): $75,656 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To empower refugees to sustain new homes find new hope and fully experience life. We do this so that every refugee will have a home that supports safety freedom and dignity. What enables us to do this is the guiding belief that within every city where a refugee resettles exists the resources to help them find a place to call home through the support of their new community.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Home Team program provides four pathways for welcoming refugees broadly defined as forcibly displaced individuals. The first is the co-sponsorship pathway where refugees and Special Immigrant Visa SIV holders are resettled through a Resettlement Agency RA with Home Teams working alongside the RA to support them. The second focuses on asylum seekers asylees and individuals on humanitarian parole ensuring that those with limited resources receive necessary assistance. The third involves PCHNV and Ukraine Sponsor Circles while the fourth is the Welcome Corps a new U.S. private sponsorship initiative. Volunteers from faith and community groups form Home Teams to provide holistic support to refugees and assist them in adapting to their new environment. These Home Teams undergo recruitment training and matching with refugee families or individuals offering guidance for a period of three months to a year. The primary goal is to foster safe trusting and consistent relationships that aid in the resettlement process. Home Teams help refugees navigate essential services including healthcare food distribution education ESL classes transportation employment opportunities and low-income housing. Additionally they assist with integrating into the community finding religious support and understanding cultural norms. Through these efforts refugees gain practical knowledge about financial management social services and workplace expectations empowering them to become self-sufficient. The impact of Home Teams extends beyond immediate resettlement needs. Refugees who work with these teams experience lower stress levels develop meaningful friendships and gain confidence in their ability to navigate life in the United States. As a result they are more successful in their resettlement journey and often go on to support others in similar situations. By building strong community connections and providing crucial support the Home Team program plays a vital role in ensuring that refugees can integrate successfully and thrive in their new homes.

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

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 54
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 21
  • Sustainability: 19
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 58.8%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 56.3%; rating input score 56
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.23 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 0%; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: -4.3%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.1; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.31; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 27%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.5% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -17.1% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 58.8% of revenue deployed · 56.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 7 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $158K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $76K · 8 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 44 of 44 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 56/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 23/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.