Sisterhouse

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
363789475
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Oak Park, IL, USA
Phone
7736260525
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$569,949
Expenses
$543,755
Assets
$752,065
Liabilities
$191,066

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KATHERINE BARTH (PRESIDENT)
  • PATRICIA BANKS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • PATRICIA BANKS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $74,190 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Sisterhouse educates and empowers women to lead sober and fulfilling lives by providing a safe and structured spiritual living community.

What it reported doing in 2025

Sisterhouse provides shelter and comprehensive services to homeless women recovering from addiction, mental illness, and poverty. Through the recovery is possible program, residents access intensive outpatient and and outpatient therapy, life skills training, behavioral health counseling, daily aa meetings, job training, placement, and housing resources, with stays of up to 18 months. Women who achieve stable employment and sobriety may transition to reduced-rent housing in the annex as a bridge to independence. In 2025, sisterhouse served 53 women with the following results: - 100% had basic, medical, psychiatric needs met and completed mental health evaluations - 52% or 10 clients completed 75 hours of intensive outpatient and 30 hours of outpatient therapy 6 additional clients working were close to completing at the end of 2025. - 92% (49/53) sustained sobriety; 87% (46/53) stayed compliant with treatment and showed improved mental health. - 100% (8/8) eligible clients enrolled in job training - 75% (6/8) of phase three clients gained employment or increased income; 75% (6/8) secured housing, including 2 in the annex.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 94% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.3%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 90.4%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.03 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.6%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.38; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.6%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.1% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.3% of revenue deployed · 90.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $492K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $74K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 16 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 41/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 53/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.