INTERFAITH EMERGENCY SERVICES INC
God's Hand Extended to Those in Need
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 Assistance
Interfaith provides a full range of emergency services and assistance. We serve individuals and families with children by providing basic needs to enhance their quality of life and items that will help them secure employment. Services include emergency food, clothing, prescription medications, identification cards, hygiene items, eye glasses and work boots. Interfaith has been helping its’ neighbors for 30 years in Marion County.
Food 4 Kids Program
Our Food 4 Kids backpack program provides food in backpacks to fight hunger for elementary age children on the weekends. Our "backpack program" as it's termed, was created to provide food for each child that qualifies at the school level for assistance. Backpacks can include: canned meat, shelf-stable milk, peanut butter and jelly, soup, apple sauce, boxes, cereal, etc. Thanks to donations and volunteers, we partner with 32 schools in Marion County, typically feeding over 1,450 children each week for a total of 8,700 meals. Food 4 Kids makes a huge difference in the lives of hungry children by enabling them to focus on learning instead of their hunger and keeping them healthy and nourished which enables them to learn.
Homeless Shelter
Our Shelter Program for homeless families, single women and children. Our shelter provides 100% support while residents stay with us. Along with chores and responsibilities each day, residents are required to look for work, be working or volunteering. Children are enrolled in school/daycare and have afterschool tutoring if needed. Classes are provided for budgeting, parenting, goal-setting, life skills and other relevant needs. Residents meet weekly with a case worker that helps transition them to stable, self-supporting lifestyle on their own. They also meet with a Job Hunter for specific training for job seeking, resume building and various appropriate skills. The ultimate goal of our shelter program is to end homelessness, one family at a time.
Center for Life
Provides emergency assistance for life-saving prescriptions for those without insurance. Also provides facilities for a free medical, dental and mental health clinic.
Interfaith Food Pantry
Interfaith provides grocery assistance to Marion County residents in need. Clients can come once per month to receive a grocery cart full of food items including meat, produce, canned goods and dry non-perishable items. This program serves up to 500 households every week.
Supportive Housing
Interfaith operates the 14th Street Apartments which included14 units. Five of the units are single-room occupancy units that provide permanent supportive housing to individuals that were previously chronically homeless and suffer from a disabling condition. The other 8 units are offered to families or individuals who income qualify at 150% of the poverty level. These units are offered at a discounted rent rate of $525 per month. Tenants much income qualify each year for lease renewal.
Where we work
External reviews
Videos
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?
Interfaith serves individuals, families, veterans, senior citizens, the disabled, and the homeless in our community by providing basic needs such as emergency food, clothing, prescription medications, identification cards, hygiene items, eye glasses and work boots. Our goal is simple – to help as many people in the community as we can, with the least amount of funding. Interfaith is donation based, and relies on our local community for most of our funding. We are supported by local individuals, businesses, churches and organizations through financial and physical donations. In the last 30 years, our organization has made a positive, lasting impact on our community by meeting these critical needs. Our goal is to continue to reach out to our community to maintain a lasting relationship with donors and provide the most effective emergency services to those in need.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Interfaith believes in partnering with our local community to reach the most people. Through our “Bring the Harvest Home” program, we seek to partner with local business and churches to provide monthly donations of food and hygiene items. By assigning a monthly commitment from local partners, we are guaranteed an influx of donations each month. A local church can provide as much as 15,000 pounds of food in one month. Financially, one of our greatest tools is our monthly newsletter. Currently our newsletter is mailed to over 2,600 subscribers and 400 email subscribers, from which 52% of our donations are received from enclosed donor envelopes. With nearly 500 followers, our Facebook page is also a great tool for reaching out to the local community when a specific need arises or to advertise for special events.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
With just 25 staff members we rely largely on our volunteers for our workforce. Our volunteers are connected throughout our community and help spread the word when we have special needs or events. Likewise, our Board Members are a wide variety of local professionals that step up to assist us. We are fortunate to be supported by several local government officials and can often reach out to them when a critical need arises and they help spearhead food drives. Also, our local newspaper often does articles for our food pantry when donations are needed for the community or to highlight special events. Many of our staff members are connected through local clubs and organizations throughout the community, so that we can leverage those relationships to benefit our organization. Together, our staff, board and volunteers connect within our community to meet the needs for those that need our help.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In the last two years, we opened a new building called the Center for Life - which was created to provide free medical, dental, vision and mental health for those that are without insurance. We also provide our prescription assistance program in that facility that provides life-saving medical prescriptions for those without insurance coverage.
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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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 understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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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 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 act on the feedback we receive
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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, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
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.
INTERFAITH EMERGENCY SERVICES INC
Board of directorsas of 09/22/2023
Mrs Rebecca OConnor
Mr Wally Wagoner
Wesley Wheeler
retired business owner
Anne Parker
community advocate
Winn Keeton
Banking
Craig Baggs
community advocate
Quinette Durkin
community advocate
John Bradish
logistic management
Rebecca OConnor
Civil Engineer
Mary Beth Nealy
retired
Michael Jordan
retired physician
Monica Bryant
DV Prevention Advocate
Doug Day
CPA
Alejandra Arango
Equine
Kent Adams
Business Owner
Wally Wagoner
Retired School Administrator
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 ? No -
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? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 09/22/2023GuideStar 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
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- 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.