Mercy Housing & Shelter Corporation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 061090211
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Hartford, CT, USA
- Phone
- 8608082033
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Homeless Shelters
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $9,496,224
- Expenses
- $9,335,189
- Assets
- $13,556,921
- Liabilities
- $1,598,352
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
16 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- KARA A CAPONE (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- KARA A CAPONE (CEO): $202,005 total reported compensation
- DANIEL GURVICH (CFO): $193,839 total reported compensation
- KATHLEEN SHAW (COO): $167,802 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Mercy housing and shelter corporation provides housing assistance and supportive services to persons who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Mercy works to empower its clients to become independent, so they may live and work with dignity and respect. Mercy seeks to end homelessness by advocating for changes in the social systems that perpetuate homelessness. Mercy welcomes and serves all in need, in the tradition of the sisters of mercy, who founded the organization in 1983.
What it reported doing in 2024
The haven at charter oak - the haven at charter oak (the haven) is a young adult services transitional living program located at 7 charter oak place in hartford, operated 24 hours a day, seven (7) days a week by mercy in partnership with dmhas. The program serves 15 young adults 18-24 years old transitioning from dcf or other settings who are referred by dmhas. The building consists of nine (9) single rooms and one (1) double room bedrooms with shared common areas such as bathrooms, laundry room, living room, reading nook and kitchen to ensure participants have access to both privacy and the opportunity to grow their social skills. Residents remain in the program on average from 3-18 months while continuing to engage in clinical services and working on improving independent living skills so that they can eventually thrive in the community. The residence at saint mary home - a supervised housing program for 15 individuals with serious and persistent mental health disabilities that prevent them from living successfully and independently in the community. The program, located at st. Mary's home, which is part of the mercy community, provides recovery-oriented case management services, life skills training, education and employment assistance, training around personal finances, coordination with treatment providers, meals and 24- hour supervision with the goal of participants exiting to more independent living situations. The friendship center - is a day shelter & meals program located in st. Elizabeth house; it provides a soup kitchen, day shelter and community resources to individuals and families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Clients have access tuesdays through saturdays to breakfast and lunch, restrooms, showers, laundry facilities, health care, food pantry and personal care items, case management, employment services, and homeless prevention supportive services. The friendship center provides 38,334 breakfast and lunch meals and served over 700 unique individuals last year. The food pantry program was also expanded last year.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 87% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 93% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 82
- Transparency & Controls: 71
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 47
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 83.2%; rating input score 83
- Program expense ratio: 84%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: $34.47 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- 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: 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: 1.7%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.45; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 4.4%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 83.2% of revenue deployed · 84% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $7.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $202K · 16 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $1.4M reported
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
- 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.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 55/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.