The Learning Center House of Connections

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
363575412
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2015
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
7732773111
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$271,045
Expenses
$306,756
Assets
$366,825
Liabilities
$5,663

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Angelica Saucedo (Executive Director)
  • Anthony Graefe (President)
  • Robert Tuerk (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Angelica Saucedo (Executive Director): $75,500 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Learning Center supports adults in their pursuit of an educational path to more confident and effective living. For 42 years, TLC has empowered adults for effective personal lives, productive employment, and positive contribution to the community. We fulfill this mission by providing free adult education classes to students 18 years and older. We offer students opportunities to improve their reading, writing, math and English language skills; connect those skills to their personal lives; and find employment.

What it reported doing in 2024

To further support our literacy program and adult learners, TLC offered support services which included: a. GED and HISET test fees - Six (6) students received their High School Equivalency Certificate. b. Educational and cultural trips throughout the City of Chicago - 40% of the students we served attended these field trips. c. Public transportation assistance - TLC distributed 300 emergency transit cards to our students. d. Daily nutritious breakfasts and lunches - We served about 155 meals per week during FY 2024-2025. e. One-on-one or small group tutoring - Twenty-two (22) dedicated volunteer tutors provided 1,335.95 hours of supplemental instruction. At $30.97 per volunteer hour for Illinois, the total dollar value contributed by TLC literacy volunteers was $41,374.37. f. Food assistance program - 52 students received monthly produce boxes from Forty Acres Fresh Market. g. Digital Literacy program - 10 English as a Second Language students successfully completed this program.

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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.9%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 64.9%; rating input score 65
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 19th 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; 63rd 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: Fail
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -13.2%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.2; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.6%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.1% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.9% of revenue deployed · 64.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $199K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $76K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 42 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.