Serenitystar

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
900446173
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Smithville, TX, USA
Phone
9795711083
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alcohol, Drug Abuse, Treatment Only

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,840,932
Expenses
$1,878,413
Assets
$3,420,192
Liabilities
$2,642,593

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PHILLIP JONES (Vice President)
  • GINA BEDOY (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • ASHLEY NICOLE (BOARD MEMBER): $13,000 total reported compensation
  • HEATHER MCBRYAR (Treasurer): $10,500 total reported compensation
  • THERESA LOPEZ (Executive Dir.): $10,425 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

SerenityStar provides a safe, sober & spiritual environment for families to recover from their addictions.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, the organization opened Sweet Serenity, a donation-supported bakery, coffee shop, and gift shop in San Antonio. This new venture provides meaningful opportunities that further the organization's mission while serving the local community. During the year, the organization also completed several facility improvement projects to support resident services and accommodate program growth. These projects included the construction of a covered back porch for the women's dormitory, installation of a pergola over the outdoor stage at the Smithville caf location, and numerous upgrades to the family dormitory. In addition, construction began on a new yoga platform at the ranch property. The yoga platform was developed to provide a centralized space where all residents can participate in wellness and therapeutic activities together. This expansion was necessary due to increased program participation and the organization's outgrowing of its existing wellness center facilities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 85
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.1%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 93.2%; rating input score 93
  • 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; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90%; rating input score 90; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: -2%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.82; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.77; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.3%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 21.4% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 19.2% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 25.6% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.1% of revenue deployed · 93.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 10 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $13K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 25/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 7/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 53/100.