South Oakland Shelter
Building equitable communities and alleviating poverty.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Emergency Shelter
Thanks to partnerships with over 60 Oakland County congregations, Lighthouse operates a 30 bed year-round rotating shelter servicing individuals and families. Each week, a congregation takes on the responsibility of hosting SOS's shelter guests, providing them with: overnight accommodations, three daily meals, transportation, and daily meaningful interactions with caring volunteers.
During the 2019-20 fiscal year, Lighthouse provided 299 individuals (192 adults and 107 children) with shelter, totally 13,899 nights of lodging and 41,697 meals.
Housing Programs
Implementing housing-first programming allows Lighthouse to serve more people while reducing the increased community costs associated with re-stabilizing a greater number of people exposed to the trauma of homelessness. Lighthouse provides critical housing assistance programs targeting specific sub-populations, including: Chronic-Homeless Leasing Assistance Program, Rapid Re-Housing, and Supportive Housing for Individuals and Families in Transition.
Follow-up Care
Once housed, Lighthouse clients may enter into Follow-up Care. Case managers provide in-home services for one year to assist clients in maintaining their housing. Lighthouse believes the continuation of supportive services to recently re-housed clients is key in successfully transitioning households from homelessness to long-term self-sufficiency. During the 2019-20 fiscal year, Lighthouse provided follow-up care to 156 individuals and 96% of clients maintained their housing.
HandUp
HandUp is a web-based crowdfunding platform that has enabled more than 100 homeless service agencies across the United States to raise over $2.45 million for specific client assistance.
Food Pantry
Lighthouse provides emergency food supplies to families in need in Oakland County. In addition to food pantry locations in Pontiac and Clarkston, Lighthouse partners with local congregations and groups throughout the county to provide more food distribution locations. After the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lighthouse opened a food warehouse in Waterford to begin providing delivery of emergency food to clients in need.
Where we work
Awards
Most Outstanding Volunteer Program 2009
Governor's Service Award
External reviews

Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of bed nights (nights spent in shelter)
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
2020 = fiscal year 2020-21
Number of shelter clients that exited into stable housing
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
2020 = 2020-21 fiscal year
Number of individuals served through our transitional housing program
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
2020 = 2020-21 fiscal year
Number of individuals served through our housing programs, including Rapid Re-Housing, Permanent and Supportive Housing, and Follow-Up Care
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
2020 = 2020-21 fiscal year
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
What we learned throughout 2020 and in the months following, is that while our team was able to sufficiently meet the increased need, our response was merely a short-term band-aid to a wide-scale, systemic issue. While COVID-19 exacerbated the needs of those struggling prior to the pandemic and impacted others for the first time, it also showed us a better way to serve people. With more attention and support from our community of donors, volunteers, and local officials, Lighthouse has been able to serve more people, more efficiently, and with more dignity than ever before. We now have a much better understanding of what is needed.
Lighthouse aims to increase our role in the emergency food services to help meet Oakland County’s scope of need, explore increased emergency shelter availability for children, adults, and families, become a leader in educating and inspiring members of the community to alleviate poverty, and increase services to existing clients through programs like the Center for Working Families.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The sense of urgency around sheltering the homeless and providing food to families in the midst of a pandemic shifted funding and program policies in a way that allowed us to serve a greater number of people in need. Lighthouse plans to work with community leaders, partner agencies, and government officials to continue serving at this heightened level while working towards implementing long-term solutions to the problems our community faces. We know what to do, and if given the right opportunities with the right partners and adequate funding, we can work together to alleviate poverty within Oakland County.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
As one of the only emergency shelters equipped to serve families, and one of only a few 5-day a week food pantries that also offers food delivery in Oakland County, Lighthouse has been at the forefront of serving low-income families for decades. We know the struggles our neighbors face and the toll poverty takes on families and communities.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Lighthouse has identified the goals listed above as part of our strategic plan for the organization and is working to connect with community leaders, partner agencies, and government officials to help accomplish these goals. We have been growing our team to help us keep up with the growing demand in our community and are working with experts on long-term plans. Stay tuned to our website for more updates.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
Individuals and families experiencing homelessness, food insecurity, and financial instability residing in Southeast Michigan.
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How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
SMS text surveys, Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Case management notes, Community meetings/Town halls,
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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,
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
The agency’s telephone system was redesigned so that clients now dial one telephone number in order to be connected with any of the agency’s resources or supportive services. Before, clients or potential clients would have to call specific departments, each with their own unique telephone number, to gain assistance. Clients stated this process, when they were already in crisis, left them feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. In response, a centralized telephone system was created and now clients dial one telephone number and can respond to either phone prompts or speak to a live individual for assistance with any of our services.
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With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,
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How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?
It’s improved relationships between service providers and clients and positively impacted program development and resources to be more reflective of clients’ needs.
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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,
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback,
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- 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.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild 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.
South Oakland Shelter
Board of directorsas of 10/28/2021
Richard Lewnau
Ryan Hertz
Lighthouse MI
John Harvey
Serenity Christian Church
William Mott
St. John Providence Health System
Richard Lewnau
Paul Plante
Jim Ciroli
Flagstar Bank
Paddy Lynch
Lynch & Sons Funeral Directors
Harry Maisel
Susan Wellman
Keating Network
Jackie Buchanan
Genisys Credit Union
James Carpenter
Bank of America
Manisha Dostert
Christ Church Cranbrook
Lamontre Harris
Honor Health
Jim Lambrecht
Lambrecht Realty
Sonja Lengnick
Kienbaum Hardy Viviano Pelton Forrest
Colleen Ochoa Peters
Meaningful Impact
Rachel Pica
Dean Rocheleau
Plante Moran
Jacqui Spicer
Baker College
John Townsend
Bruce Turpin
The Wellness Plan
Dennis Blender
Blender Consulting Group
Jonathan Burleigh
Bodman PLC
Sammie Rayner
HandUp
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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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
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data