Western Community Action Inc

What it reported doing in 2015

Complete program information is included in schedule o. Community and family support program: wca assists individuals and families in crisis with emergency food services at our food shelves in marshall, tracy, westbrook, and heron lake. There were no fees charged to individuals served. Food shelves are open each week and services are available at other times by appointment. Wca assists households with homelessness prevention and assistance services by providing direct assistance for emergency shelter (motel voucher) assistance, first month's rent or deposit, utility deposit and transportation assistance, etc. Households assisted also receive support services from trained case managers in developing a plan toward self-sufficiency. Wca assists low- income households with free tax preparation assistance services. Taxpayers received free preparation, free electronic filing, and direct deposit when available. Community transit of western community action utilizes bus and volunteer drivers to transport all residents of lincoln, lyon, redwood, cottonwood and jackson counties. Surveillance cameras have been installed in all buses to increase security. Additional passenger shelters were purchased to put along scheduled route stops. Community transit continues to focus on ways to increase transportation resources so people can access local and out of area services at an affordable rate. Head start: for 49 years, our head start program has served preschool-aged children whose family incomes are at or below the federal poverty level. To respond to the individual needs of families, our program offers head start services in classrooms or in home-based settings with services delivered by home visitors. Children participate in high-quality educational activities in a safe environment where they receive healthy meals and snacks. All children receive annual physical and dental exams, hearing, vision, and immunization screening and ongoing growth and learning assessments. Head start is a fully inclusive program. Wca head start observes and records children's cognitive and social development using high scope cor as the assessment tool.head start parents are actively involved in supporting their children's health and education and receive support to enrich parenting skills and access needed family services. Families served received needed parent/family education services and/or emergency/crisis assistance. Parents also have opportunities to become involved in setting the direction and policies of the program through participation in parent committees and parent council. The weatherization program is a grant program that provides services to assist income eligible households with energy repairs to make them more efficient. Services include diagnostic testing, furnace repair and replacement, water heater repairs and insulation. The energy assistance program provides home heating assistance, emergency assistance and repair of old and unsafe heating systems to income qualifying households. The small cities development program provides financial assistance for low to moderate income individuals who are residing in substandard housing. This program encourages the improvement of the general appearance and value of the housing stock while making a visible and substantial improvement upon the quality of life and appearance of the community. This program offers grant funds owner-occupied, commercial and rental property owners. This program can provide upgrades to properties, helping them to meet code requirements. The murl program offers homeownership to "at risk" households at a 0% interest, no down payment, and contract for deed. This program is aimed at first-time homebuyers with certain exemptions. With funding provided by the mn housing finance agency, wca, inc. Purchases homes to be rehabilitated and sold to qualifying buyers. Mn housing finance agency also offers loan programs for low income single family homeowners in need of improvements that direc

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 85.1%; rating input score 85
• Program expense ratio: 90.2%; rating input score 90
• Fundraising efficiency: $25.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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; 65th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 5.6%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.85; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 1.2%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings