SILVER2023

Believe in Me

Foundation for Kids

aka Morning Star Foundation   |   Spokane, WA   |  https://www.believeinme.org/

Mission

Our vision is to help every kid develop the self-confidence they need to succeed. With your generosity, we fund children’s charities that provide disadvantaged kids with a safe place to call home, a family that loves them, a feeling of community, and opportunities to learn, build self-esteem, and have fun.

Ruling year info

2008

Chief Executive Officer

Julie Kay Wukelic

Main address

PO Box 2155

Spokane, WA 99210 USA

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Formerly known as

Morning Star Boys Ranch Foundation

Morning Star Foundation

EIN

20-4830357

NTEE code info

Private Grantmaking Foundations (T20)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

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Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Transitional Housing Pillar of Caring

Serious emotional and behavioral disturbances, domestic violence, and abuse leave some kids homeless or orphaned, without a safe place to call home. Child Protective Services may provide help by placing them in a home-like setting where they receive around-the-clock care from trained professionals. After evaluating the child’s needs, an individualized plan is developed to include medication adjustments, nonviolent interventions, and therapy to teach healthy communication and behavioral management skills. We believe in transitional living programs that provide support, resources, and a safe place to call home for disadvantaged kids.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth
At-risk youth
Economically disadvantaged people
Foster and adoptive children
Foster and adoptive parents

Forming a secure attachment to at least one parenting adult is critical to the healthy development of a child’s sense of well-being. At any given time, Spokane has 700-800 children in foster care who are cared for by a close relative, a foster family, or within a group facility. More than half go back to live with their family, but the goal of our programs is to make sure foster kids are matched with a stable forever families. We proudly support programs that provide foster kids a leg up and equip families for foster parenting or adoption.

Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people
Foster and adoptive children
Transitioning children

Wraparound services are helpful for struggling children who need a coordinated plan they can buy into. In this scenario, community-based services, including counselors and social workers, literally “wrap around” the child, their family, school, and community to provide a coordinated effort to get them back on track. These services are individualized to the child’s goals and guide them through legal trouble, develop a safe and stable living situation, calm their emotional state, improve academic performance, and build healthy relationships.

Population(s) Served
At-risk youth
Victims of crime and abuse
At-risk youth
Victims of crime and abuse
Homeless people
LGBTQ people
Children and youth
Pregnant people

Education allows children to open up to new areas of growth so they can be more creative, develop new ideas, and meet the challenges they will face in life. What kids will achieve in their lives is only limited by how strongly they believe in themselves and the level of self-confidence and self-awareness they develop as youth. Education fuels children’s self-confidence and instills belief in their own success. That’s why Believe in Me Foundation invests in education through Title I schools, STEM and tutoring programs, ECEAP, and Head Start.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth
At-risk youth
Economically disadvantaged people
Immigrants and migrants

There is something magical about creating art, playing music, and exploring outside. These activities take kids to another place and provide them opportunities to use their imagination and see a new world full of possibilities. Positive play environments, getting outdoors and learning to enjoy the arts allow the whole child to be spontaneous, exhibit their resilience, and find the enchantment to spin up their own dreams and play out their instinctive nature. Believe in Me Foundation values these important components in the development of our community’s kids.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth
At-risk youth
Economically disadvantaged people
Children and youth
At-risk youth
Economically disadvantaged people
Immigrants and migrants

Where we work

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of organizations applying for grants

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

At-risk youth

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Total dollar amount of grants awarded

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people, Victims and oppressed people, Women and girls, Ethnic and racial groups

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

Financials

Believe in Me
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

Believe in Me

Board of directors
as of 01/19/2023
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Aaron Riley

Lori Brennan

Multicare

Paul Sorensen

Aaron Riley

SNAP

Shawn Davis

Zipline Interactive

Dan Menser

Seattle Alliance of Angels

Paul Hutton

Cruise Planners

John Powers

Powers Economics

Keith Trefry

Paine Hamblen LLP

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 1/19/2023
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.

Equity strategies

Last updated: 01/19/2023

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.