Urban Peak Denver

What it reported doing in 2024

The mothership opened in august 2024 and was fully operational in december 2024. The mothership has a 136-bed capacity, including congregate emergency shelter for minors (age 12-17) and young adults (age 18-24), as well as transitional shelter in two-person, dorm-style units called neighborhoods. Congregate and neighborhood overnight shelter: denver's only licensed and supervised overnight shelter for unhoused youth ages 12 through 24 provides safety and security for youth in crisis. Youth are provided an array of services to help support them in their journey toward self-sufficiency. When youth enter the shelter, they participate in intake assessment to help determine individual needs and identify personal barriers to exiting the streets. Urban peak has implemented an organizational structure and treatment framework called trauma informed care (tic). Tic involves understanding, recognizing, and responding to the effects of all types of trauma. Urban peak emphasizes the physical, psychological, and emotional safety of both youth and staff, and assumes that every youth accessing services has experienced trauma. In fy25, 403 unduplicated youth stayed at the mothership for 27,713 bed nights. Day shelter: urban peak's day shelter offers respectful, low-barrier services in a safe environment for youth to receive a meal, take a shower, do laundry, access medical care, and access case management and service planning. The day shelter provides numerous life skills classes including anger management, healthy relationships, cooking and nutrition, sex and sti education, budgeting, and more. Youth have the opportunity to participate in art, music, yoga, and recreational activities. Youth engaging with a case manager receive a comprehensive assessment to identify strengths, needs, and goals. Together, case managers and youth develop an individualized service plan. Components of case management may include mental health assessment and intervention; legal advocacy; housing navigation; individual, group, and family counseling referrals; substance misuse counseling and support; independent living program referrals; transportation assistance; education/employment assistance; assistance obtaining id's and birth certifications; peer leadership development; and more. The day shelter often serves as a gateway for youth to access other urban peak programs, and uses a positive youth development and restorative justice model which compliments trauma informed care. In fy25, 795 unduplicated youth accessed day services; 36,082 meals were served to 596 individuals, 597 youth engaged with a case manager, and 419 accessed supportive services. Wellbeing, evaluation, and youth supportive services: urban peak offers education/employment, medical, and social emotional services to all youth clients. Because the majority of homeless youth do not have a high school diploma or ged, urban peak encourages youth to complete their high school education at their home school. As an alternative, urban peak offers educational counseling, tutoring, and on-site ged instruction and testing. A computer lab is open during the day and in the evenings so youth can acquire or enhance computer skills. Financial assistance for higher education is available. Urban peak provides employment counseling and job readiness training to equip youth with the tools and support necessary to obtain and keep good jobs - including resume development; application completion; interview skills and other soft skill development; work ethic development; clothing suitable for job searches and interviews; and personal makeovers (haircuts and styling, makeup tips, help choosing clothing, etc.). Volunteers provide ongoing job mentoring to youth throughout the process. Urban peak also works with local businesses to secure job opportunities for youth, provides ongoing job retention case management to youth, and provides support to employers who have hired youth participating in the program. In fy25, 445 youth

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 65.7%; rating input score 66
• Program expense ratio: 79.7%; rating input score 80
• Fundraising efficiency: $17.31 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Pass
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 96.7%; rating input score 97; 30th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 27.4%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.06; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 10%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 10.2% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 12.7% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 16.1% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings