GOLD2023

Starfish Project Foundation

Connecting Lives * Resources * Acts of Kindness

aka Starfish Project   |   Olathe, KS   |  starfishproject21.org

Mission

The mission of Starfish Project is to inspire and empower people to make a difference in their communities one life at a time. We do this by connecting lives, resources and acts of kindness.

Ruling year info

2015

President

Joni Moreland

Main address

134 S Clairborne Road Suite B

Olathe, KS 66062 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

47-1675433

NTEE code info

Philanthropy / Charity / Voluntarism Promotion (General) (T50)

Alliance/Advocacy Organizations (P01)

IRS filing requirement

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

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Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

There is a lot of disconnect between people in need and the resources needed to fill their needs. We work to be the center point to bring all of these together for our local communities.

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?

Community Center

Since Starfish Project opened the doors of our community center in 2017. In those years we have grown to serve several thousand meals a month, offer supplemental food 5 days a week and keep thousands of pounds of food out of the landfill. We do not question or vet anyone in need of food. We also offer basic life necessities and connect people with needed resources. We have been able to provide community service opportunities to hundreds of people in our community. This includes, but not limited to: those with special needs, scouts, children and individuals of all age groups. We are registered with the Presidential Volunteer Awards program and can ensure school-aged kids can get credit for their hours to graduate. We also offer volunteer and offer court-mandated hours. SP offers family-friendly and non-discriminatory activates that allows a wide variety of people to come together for a common good.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Ethnic and racial groups
People with disabilities
People with diseases and illnesses
Economically disadvantaged people

Starfish Project launched our non-profit incubator. Contained in the incubator is room for 10 non-profits. Services include management support, training, space, legal and a reception staff. This model would also allow for the non-profits to share resources, ideas and space. Having multiple organizations together in one place would also allow for low cost education sessions that could benefit everyone involved. The space already has an accessible training room already set up for classes, including the computers.

Population(s) Served
Adults

Starfish Project is an approved practicum site for social work interns at both KU and University of Phoenix. We are currently reaching out to additional schools and working on resources that will allow us to pay the students a stipend while interning with us.

Population(s) Served
Academics

In the past year we have seen a steady increase in the homeless population in Olathe/Johnson County. After looking a little deeper into the situation, we have found that there are missing resources for at risk individuals and families. Without these resources, the scales have tipped them into to being completely homeless. We are working to be part of the solution by connecting these people with agencies that can assist with housing and necessities they need to regain a stable home environment. Not only do we send these agencies clients, we work to help the agencies get the resources they need to assist their clients.

Population(s) Served
Homeless people

More and more families have to decide, do we eat or keep a roof over our heads. These situations not only effect their stability, it effects their ability to be able to provide basic needs for their family. We come alongside and provide these basic needs or assist them with getting connected with other needed agencies. As the demands grow, we continue to grow the resources we proved. Current resources include: food, toiletries, clothing, house hold items and home goods.

Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people

Where we work

Affiliations & memberships

Chamber of Commerce 2015

Videos

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Our primary aim is to create a safe and all encompassing environment that will allow all ages, abilities and back grounds to come together and be a part of restoring humanity in their communities. We have opened our community center (which we call The Beach) and the central point for those in our community to come together. Our facility is also the central point for connecting and redistributing resources to individuals, families and local agencies.

We continually network within the KC Metro and find additional ways for people to get involved in making a difference, finding new ways to share resources and create maximum collaboration.

The establishment of the Beach Community Center in 2017. The Beach gives Starfish Project Foundaiton a physical location from which to launch community projects, interact with homeless and other under served populations, organize and coordinate volunteers and bring non-profits together.

We have opened the Beach Community Center. The Beach has a technology-equipped classroom, flexible meeting spaces and a large common area that allows volunteers to work on multiple community projects at once. We indirectly impact several hundred lives a month out of our center.

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 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 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

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback

Financials

Starfish Project Foundation
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Operations

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

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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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.

Starfish Project Foundation

Board of directors
as of 03/04/2023
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Joni Moreland

Melanie Chauk

St. Luke's South Hospital

Barbara Walk

Walk Realestate

Joni Moreland

Starfish Project Foundation

Lavern Fields

Retired

Angie Johnson

Esthetician at Oomph Salon

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? Not applicable
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable
  • 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? Not applicable

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 3/4/2023
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
Decline to state
Sexual orientation
Decline to state
Disability status
Decline to state

Race & ethnicity

No data

Gender identity

No data

 

No data

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 03/10/2021

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

Policies and processes
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • 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.