PLATINUM2022

PROVIDENCE HOUSE

Breaking the Homeless Cycle One Family at a Time

Shreveport, LA   |  www.theprovidencehouse.com

Mission

Providence House is breaking the homeless cycle one family at a time. Founded in 1988, Providence House focuses all programmatic efforts on helping homeless families (single men, single women, and married couples) with children to live a self-sufficient life. We have provided a “way out” of poverty based on three strong pillars: education, housing, and supportive services. Our goals are to meet every family at their point of need and to remove all barriers that lead to homelessness. Providence House’s long-term vision is to create a community where no family is homeless.

Notes from the nonprofit

Providence House Key Points: 1) Voted "Best Places to Work" by the Shreveport Chamber (2021 and 2022) 2) As a result of strategic planning and feedback from staff, board, stakeholders, etc. we shifted our operating model in 2019 resulting in net profits for three consecutive years 3) Our Executive Director was selected as the 2022 Advisory Chair for Louisiana State University's Institute for Nonprofit Academic Research and will be coaching other non-profits how to brand mission and increase capacity 4) Senior leaders are currently 2022 members of the Shreveport Bossier Chamber's Leadership Class. We believe in organically growing leadership to continue to move the mission as well as insure continuity of the mission 5) Providence House was awarded more than $800K in federal grants (largest allocation in 7-years), but more importantly, diversified the revenue base so that the agency is not so heavily dependent on any one source

Ruling year info

1992

Executive Director

Mrs. Verni Howard

Main address

814 Cotton St

Shreveport, LA 71101 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

72-1205164

NTEE code info

Homeless Services/Centers (P85)

Other Housing Support Services (L80)

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

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Providence House, founded in 1988 by Jean Sayres and Mary Anne Selber of First Presbyterian Church, addresses the core needs of homeless families. Traditional shelters separated families and children based on age and gender, leaving them unable to heal and grow together. Our unyielding focus is centered around helping families (single parents or married couples with children) reach their highest level of self-sufficiency. Our three strong pillars include: EDUCATION - Our 4-star child development center is available for clients and the community. We offer a HiSET/GED program, parenting classes, financial literacy, and more. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT - In partnership with Bossier Parish CC, adults have the chance to take on-site courses such as Industrial Readiness Training, ServSafe Certification, and more. SUPPORTIVE SERVICES - We offer counseling, case management, dietary services, and children’s support. Our newest addition is a calming studio for children who have experienced trauma.

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?

Providence House

Providence House is a residential shelter for homeless families with children. Our holistic program hinges on three strong pillars: (1) shelter- emergency/permanent, (2) supportive services- counseling, job training, parenting classes, workforce development, life skills training, financial literacy training and (3) education- 4 STAR Child Development Center and a full time adult HiSet Program.

Population(s) Served
Homeless people
Families

Where we work

Affiliations & memberships

Association of Fundraising Professionals - Member 2010

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence 2010

Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) 2010

United Way Member Agency 2010

United Way Member Agency 2022

Shreveport Chamber of Commerce 2022

State of Louisiana Department of Education 2022

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

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

Average number of service recipients per month

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Providence House

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Number of people using homeless shelters per week

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Providence House

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Increasing

Number of meals served or provided

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Providence House

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Holding steady

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.

Providence House imagines a community where no family is homeless. We want to be a catalyst for change so that no family in our community is homeless by providing an opportunity to thrive as equal members of our community by engaging people in acts of compassion, empowerment, and advocacy.

The singular aim of Providence House is to break the homeless cycle one family at a time. We are a residential development center and temporary home for homeless families with children providing comprehensive supportive services for improving the family structure and moving the family into independent living to break the homeless cycle.

The main facility on Cotton Street provides emergency and basic support services such as shelter, meals, laundry facilities, and a 4-star child development center. A family entering Providence House participates in assessing the needs and obstacles to permanent independent living that a family faces and focuses on providing life skills training, behavior modification, education, and employment at the highest level of each individual's ability.

Families who have become stabilized and are working full-time at a job or on their education move out of Providence House and into our community. These families add to the stability and quality of life in their new neighborhoods and demonstrate to others what people can do to help themselves through education and hard work. Once these families have successfully managed their responsibilities within their new home, they graduate from the program.

Our Strategic Goals are:
1) To engage parents and encourage them to become involved advocates for their children. Specifically, we will give incentives to parents and students to take an active role in attending school functions, events, and meetings pertaining to their children's progress, behavior and enrichment;

2) Focus on developing employment opportunities that will allow families to expand career options. The goal is to have parents begin careers, not simply obtain a job;

3) Enhance our focus on the mission by implementing more effective case management while building relationships with support and appreciation; and

4) To market and grow our Child Development Center.

Our ability to accomplish these goals is predicated on the involvement of all staff. In October of each calendar year, the entire staff meets to measure our success (or failure) of each goal. We are only capable of moving our strategy forward when:

1) We employ, empower, and entrust the best and the brightest to support specific programmatic area;
2) We provide compensation commensurate with the expected outcomes with each program sector;
3) We research, collaborate, and share best practices;
4) We constantly and consistently engage the families that we serve to determine if we are hitting our intended benchmarks;
5) We measure performance strategies, checking that our Who, What, When, and Where benchmarks are correct -- revising as necessary.

Providence House employs staff with experience in the social service sector and others that bring in a different level of expertise. The private sector offers a wealth of information that can enhance the work of the non-profit sector. It takes both groups to yield the outcomes and expectations within our strategy.

Since its inception, 665 families have completed the program at Providence House and moved from homelessness to independence.

In 2021:
- 17,888 nights of lodging were provided;
- 20,913 meals were provided in the House and the Child Development Center combined;
- 18 families on average were served daily; of these families, we served an average of 30 children (newborn to 18) per day;
- 36 families obtained permanent housing;
- Over 4,000 calls were received for homelessness prevention;
- 61 families in Shreveport were helped with rental and utility assistance;
- 138 counseling sessions were provided for residents and others in the community;
- 39 people graduated from workforce development courses at Providence House through our partnership with Bossier Parish Community College (BPCC).

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 demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.
  • Who are the people you serve with your mission?

    Homeless families with children

  • 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

  • What significant change resulted from feedback?

    Our families concluded that children with undiagnosed learning disabilities had no outlet within the shelter. This was true! As a result, we raised $40K to establish a state of the art Calming Studio in our homeless shelter.

  • 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?

    We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback

Financials

PROVIDENCE HOUSE
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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.

PROVIDENCE HOUSE

Board of directors
as of 08/05/2022
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board co-chair

Attorney Jacob White

Ayres, Shelton, Williams, Benson & Paine, LLC

Term: 2022 - 2024


Board co-chair

Partner/CPA George “Trey” Delano Fauber, III

Cole, Evans & Peterson

Term: 2022 - 2024

Reginald Abrams

Abrams & Lafargue, LLC

Brian Crawford

Willis Knighton Health System

Justin Gambill

Cross Keys Bank

Felicia Hamilton

Law Offices of Felicia Hamilton, LLC

Judy Madison

Red River Bank

Marcia Moffatt

Committee Activist

Jean Mosley

Griggs Enterprise

Joy Reynolds

Reynolds Foundation

Dr. Sue Seiler-Smith

Ochsner LSU Health System

Margaret Sour

Camellia Trading

Benny Vaughn

Vaughn Builders

Michelle M. Arnold

LSU Health Science Center

Matthew Sawrie

Home Federal Bank of LA

Bert Schmale

Home Federal Bank

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? No

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 8/5/2022

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
Black/African American
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

Equity strategies

Last updated: 08/04/2022

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 employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • 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 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.