Joining Hearts and Hands Ltd

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
134317224
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Vero Beach, FL, USA
Phone
5853778298
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Reported finances

Revenue
$517,997
Expenses
$248,277
Assets
$1,101,399
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • WILLIAM C CALA (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • JOANNE M CALA (VP-TREASURER)
  • WILLIAM C CALA (PRESIDENT)
  • MARGARET CARDONA (SECRETARY)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Joining hearts and hands, ltd. Works to relieve difficult poverty conditions for african children and their families by providing improved educational opportunities, initiatives and facilities which include safe, structurally sound classrooms, clean drinking water, sanitary latrines, healthy school kitchens, access to medical care, good nutritional food sources and student scholarship relief for those children without family resources. In addition, joining hearts and hands, ltd. Promotes sustainable development projects which engage local school community participation, ownership and continual improvement reviews through training and skill building workshops - all to enhance economic independence, dignity, and opportunity.

What it reported doing in 2025

Tuition and school fees provided for 286 east african students: 286 students were awarded primary, secondary, and university tuition and school fee scholarships. These were young people from extreme poverty in kenya and tanzania. Each of these students lived in impoverished rural condtions, orphans with strong academic promise and little financial resources. For the past 21 years joining hearts & hands has developed partnerships and collaborated with local school communities to provide guidance and support for these vulnerable students. In 2025 joining hearts and hands expanded the kenya scholarship program to include geographic areas in kenya, such as kericho, sindo and ahero. Student & teacher school bathroom construction: due to distressed weather conditions, heavy rains flooded rural school latrines, causing unsafe and unhealthly contitions for students. Joining hearts and hands, ltd. Launched construction of new, sanitary, accessible student latrines for student and teacher lavatories at three kenyan school locations: kongasis primary school in central area of kericho, kenya (grades n-8). Their bathrooms were flooded and unhealthy. Also new latrines were completed at emunuku primary school and junior secondary school in bukura, kenya. The previous school latrines were destroyed due to recent storms. Also new latrines for teachers and students were built at visitation primary school in ahero, kenya. This school serves children from nearby slums and homes of katito-olasi, kenya. School kitchen, classroom construction and replenished science lab & equipment: two new classrooms housed in a two-floor structure were completed at mbaka oromo primary school in maseno, kenya. Jhh partnered with the local maseno school community to build these classrooms. A new kitchen and cooking stove was installed at madiany school for students with special needs. A new kitchen addition with proper ventilation was added at mang'uliro secondary school in western kenya. At lufumbo primary school in bukura, kenya, a new science lab with equipment along with teacher training was provided at lufumbo primary school (grades 6-9) in bukura, kenya.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of total spending goes to programs and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 60
  • Transparency & Controls: 55
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 86
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 50%; rating input score 50
  • Program expense ratio: 98.3%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 52.1%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.44; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 50% of revenue deployed · 98.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $244K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 14 of 14 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 50/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.