The Serenity Center Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521822174
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Columbia, MD, USA
Phone
4108846088
Rating
57
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alcohol, Drug and Substance Abuse, Dependency Prevention and Treatment

Reported finances

Revenue
$133,878
Expenses
$157,903
Assets
$359,644
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LEESA WILLIAMS (BOARD PRESIDENT)
  • NIKI DEANDA (VICE PRESIDENT BD)

People named in this filing

  • CHRISTINE FOGLE (BOARD MEMBER)
  • KENNETH PAYNTER (BOARD MEMBER)
  • ROBERT GORDON (BOARD MEMBER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

To provide meeting space for 12 step groups and promote the recovery from various types of addiction.

What it reported doing in 2025

The serenity center now sponsors 15 different 12 step groups with over 50 meetings per week. We continue to receive referals from the local courts and the howard county health department

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 66% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

MIXED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 0
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.2%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 71.4%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 0 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -17.9%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.28; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.3% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.8% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.2% of revenue deployed · 71.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 7 board members independent · 0 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $158K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 19 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 7 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 13/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.