Life House

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
721481992
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Gonzales, LA, USA
Phone
2259337646
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community, Neighborhood Development

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,943,757
Expenses
$8,462,336
Assets
$8,507,198
Liabilities
$2,222,723

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Mark Stermer (Executive Dir.): $19,130 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To work with government & business organizations to improve quality of life for citizens by providing education, training, character & leadership.

What it reported doing in 2025

Life House is a faith-based nonprofit that partners with families, businesses, and government to help men and women rebuild their lives after homelessness, incarceration, or crisis, through residential recovery programs, transitional housing, life-skills training, mentorship, and workforce support.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 89% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 50
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 79.8%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 50%; rating input score 50; 10th 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: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.5%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.01; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.26; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.2%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.2% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85% of revenue deployed · 79.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 4 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $6.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $19K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 50/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 13/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 34/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.