Lantern Community Services

What it reported doing in 2024

Lantern community services (lantern) creates pathways to stability for new yorkers impacted by homelessness. To support individuals and families in securing and maintaining stable housing, we provide supportive housing, emergency shelter, and wraparound services in 20 sites across manhattan, the bronx, brooklyn, and queens. Across all residences, our wraparound services help those we serve move forward from homelessness and build a foundation for lasting independence.(continued on schedule o)1. Supportive housing: located across manhattan, brooklyn, and the bronx, lantern operates 17 supportive housing residences totaling 1,061 program units for single adults and families who have experienced homelessness, as well as young adults who aged out of foster care. These residences combine permanent affordable housing with voluntary and flexible supportive services such as health education, food programs, therapeutic recreation, skill-building workshops, and guidance for securing stable income. 2. Shelter portfolio: lantern operates three shelter programs in queens. As of the end of fy25, lantern's shelter portfolio consists of:- laurel hall in ozone park, queens a men's shelter for homeless single adults.- lcs family shelter in far rockaway, queens shelter for homeless families with children.- liberty plaza in jamaica, queens a men's shelter for homeless single adults.lantern offers on-site supportive services and linkages to resources in the broader community that help residents progress toward increasing security, stability, and quality of life. These services include personalized case management, housing stability support, and an array of specialized programs that provide residents with diverse opportunities for engagement, community connection, and skill-building.3. Food and nutrition:1) food security initiatives: throughout fy25, lantern continued to implement food distribution programs across 13 supportive housing sites. Programs include shelf-stable pantry services, community-style meals, and fresh food box distribution (fresh produce, eggs, and grains).through lantern's food security initiatives, the following distributed:- fresh food boxes provided to approximately 680 unique residents, averaging 450 monthly participants.- 2,000 hot meals provided monthly in supportive housing. - shelf-stable pantry essentials to over 300 residents, with an average of 120 monthly participants.2) skill-building and education: throughout fy25, cooking and nutrition classes were held biweekly across 10 residences, including hands-on lessons in cooking techniques, recipes, and nutritional education. Lantern's food 4 justice program completed its third year, teaching adult participants about nutrition. Through the junior chef program, lantern engaged 40 youth ages 816 from four supportive housing sites in weekly cooking class that builds culinary skills, confidence, and teamwork. Two six-week cohorts of the junior chef program culminated in graduation celebrations attended by the young chefs, their families, and program staff. In partnership with horticultural society of New York, we offered weekly or biweekly gardening and landscaping classes across six supportive housing residences.4. Health programs1) health education & peer leadership: the successes of lantern's resident-driven models spurred a lasting organizational shift toward peer-driven health education and outreach. Most notably in fy25, lantern's neighbor 2 neighbor program provides community health worker training, supported internship, and certification for supportive housing residents. With funding by the mother cabrini health foundation, neighbor 2 neighbor empowers resident peer health educators to lead initiatives at lantern sites for health outreach, education, and linkage to on- and off-site resources. In collaboration with resident peers, the health program provided over 40 workshops on topics like overdose response, chronic illness testing and symptom management, and safe se

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 81.6%; rating input score 82
• Program expense ratio: 81.8%; rating input score 82
• Fundraising efficiency: $495.96 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • 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: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
  • 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: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 0.2%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.67; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.89; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 4.2%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 11.9% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 19.9% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings