Project Amistad Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
741861796
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
El Paso, TX, USA
Phone
9155323790
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,636,686
Expenses
$9,928,803
Assets
$11,836,280
Liabilities
$3,539,619

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHIEF JUSTICE YVONNE RODRIGUEZ (PRESIDENT EMERITUS)
  • ALEJANDRO ACOSTA (PRESIDENT)
  • EDY PAYAN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • ENRIQUETA FIERRO (PRESIDENT EMERITUS)
  • ANDREA RAMIREZ (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • ANDREA RAMIREZ (CEO): $239,415 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 advocate, connect, and deliver social services to communities, ensuring a dignified and meaningful life for all.

What it reported doing in 2024

Guardianship, money management, and unhoused initiatives: project amistad remains one of the most important community resources for persons who have been deemed by the court system to be unable to care for their health and welfare. The guardianship team works diligently to ensure that the persons under guardianship, approximately 445, have appropriate shelter, food, clothing, medical care, and mental health treatment. The program currently serves individuals ranging from young adults to persons 101 years old. Project amistad was selected to provide homeless initiatives, which are 365/24/7. Amistad has a close association with several federal, state, city, and county entities along with community-based agencies to provide high-quality professional care. Money management services are provided to persons who are unable to manage their finances and who need a representative payee. Money management services are an important part of amistad's efforts to ease burdens for persons served. The program is funded by a grant from the community development block grant (cdbg) program through the city of el paso. Project amistad clients who have been identified as needing assistance in managing their finances are provided with comprehensive and professional money management assistance by a case manager. Among the referring sources were the probate court, adult protective services (aps), and the social security administration (ssa). There are currently 73 clients in the program. Also, amistad is a hub for unhoused initiatives. The el camino a casa program, funded by the city of el paso, aims to address homelessness in the community by providing rapid rehousing, homeless prevention, and street outreach. In fy25, 278 clients and 222 households were engaged through street outreach. Services provided include case management, meals, snacks, and hygiene items. Clients are assisted in locating an emergency shelter to avoid spending the night in a place not meant for human habitation. Amistad also provided permanent supportive housing to chronically homeless individuals through funding from the u.s. Department of housing and urban development (hud), funneled through the continuum of care, serving 17 individuals. In this program, clients are provided with long-term rental assistance along with intensive case management to help them regain stability. Amistad housing opportunity program served 34 households, 39 clients with rental assistance and supportive services. This program assists individuals living with HIV/AIDS to maintain affordable and stable housing, reduce their risk of homelessness and improve their access to supportive services and health care. The amistad's el camino a casa emergency solutions grant program provided homeless prevention services to 41 individuals and 21 households and rapid rehousing assistance to 21 individuals and 16 households. Under the amistad's homeless housing and service program, 47 clients, 22 households were provided with rapid rehousing services and 47 clients, 18 households were provided with homeless prevention services. The rapid rehousing programs provide individuals and families stability and opportunities for unsheltered individuals/families to move quickly to permanent housing and receive stabilization services. Homeless prevention services are designed to prevent an individual or family from moving into an emergency shelter or unsheltered placement. They are provided with stabilization services and short and or medium-term rental assistance.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 83.2%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $106.68 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.7%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.19; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.4%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -6.1% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78% of revenue deployed · 83.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $8.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $239K · 13 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.