Mission
House of Refuge is a faith-based, non-profit organization helping homeless families in crisis by providing transitional housing and supportive services that assist participants as they strive towards self-sufficiency and seek to obtain permanent housing.
Notes from the nonprofit
The one thing we want everyone to know is that we don't serve a "certain type of people." No one is immune from tragedy and loss such as: * Domestic Violence - when it's no longer safe to continue living in your housing * Economic Hardships - when job loss, poor health, or other emergencies mean you cannot continue to pay for your housing * Increasing Costs - when you cannot continue to find housing you can afford * Death, divorce, or break-up - when the person who paid for your housing is no longer in the picture * Fire, flood, or other disaster - when your housing is literally gone The only difference between our residents and the rest of us is that they did not have sufficient resources to deal with their losses without our assistance. They exhausted their savings and had no remaining friends or family on whom they could rely for ongoing help.
Ruling year
1991
President and CEO
Ms. Kayla Kolar
Main address
6935 E Williams Field Rd
Mesa, AZ 85212 USA
EIN
86-0662244
NTEE code
Homeless Services/Centers (P85)
Low-Cost Temporary Housing (includes Youth Hostels) (L40)
Employment Procurement Assistance and Job Training (J20)
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
The problem House of Refuge works to address is HOMELESSNESS. According to a recent 3TV/CBS 5 news report airing on 3/11/22, homelessness in Arizona has increased by 35% in the last two years – with more than 5,000 persons experiencing un-sheltered homelessness in Maricopa County in January 2022. Unfortunately, current record-breaking rental increases will certainly lead to ongoing increases in the number of families who can no longer afford their housing. All too often, poverty, domestic violence, and family homelessness are experienced as a repetitive cycle - continually being passed down as a legacy of misery from one generation to the next. In addition to a roof overhead, families experiencing homelessness have a critical need for the education, employment, and life-skills needed to break the cycle and change the trajectory of their lives.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Transitional Housing for Families
House of Refuge is a faith-based, non-profit 501(c)(3) that provides supportive services and transitional housing to homeless families. House of Refuge is a work program with case management services, employment support and transitional housing.
Where we work
Awards
Disaster Response Award 2021
Gilbert Chamber of Commerce
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsTotal number of clients experiencing homelessness
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Families, Economically disadvantaged people, Homeless people
Related Program
Transitional Housing for Families
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of food donation partners
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Transitional Housing for Families
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of people within the organization's service area accessing food aid
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Families, Economically disadvantaged people, Homeless people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Families, Economically disadvantaged people, Homeless people
Related Program
Transitional Housing for Families
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Besides the loyal volunteers we gratefully rely upon each year - in November, 2022, hundreds of skilled volunteers participated in special projects coordinated by Valley Partnership and HomeAid.
Total number of volunteer hours contributed to the organization
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Transitional Housing for Families
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
As noted above, in November 2022, Valley Partnership and HomeAid coordinated on-site projects to upgrade and beautify our campus. - which caused an increase in the number of our volunteers & hours.
Number of backpacks filled with school supplies distributed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Transitional Housing for Families
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of snacks served for students participating in programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Transitional Housing for Families
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Average length of stay (in months)
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Transitional Housing for Families
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
83,274 Bed nights for transitional housing provided. 403 Individual adults and children receiving wrap-around supportive services. 131 Families rescued from homelessness
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Transitional Housing for Families
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn 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?
We aim to break the cycle of homelessness and domestic violence for families with minor children.
House of Refuge provides housing situated in a peaceful neighborhood of 88 single-family homes. In addition to safe, comfortable housing we provide wrap-around support services to help residents:
• obtain the food, clothing, furnishings, and household items needed to make a house a home,
• begin to recover from trauma and address their root causes of homelessness,
• work to improve income and become self-sufficient,
• and successfully graduate in to stable housing.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
House of Refuge provides transitional housing and wrap-around supportive services.
We help homeless families with minor children transition from homelessness to self-sufficiency.
House of Refuge provides housing situated in a peaceful drug-free alcohol-free neighborhood of 88 single-family homes. In addition to safe, comfortable housing we provide wrap-around support services to help residents:
• obtain the food, clothing, furnishings, and household items needed to make a house a home,
• begin to recover from trauma and address their root causes of homelessness,
• work to improve income and become self-sufficient,
• and successfully graduate in to stable housing.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Case Managers help families create a workable plan to rebuild their lives by addressing the underlying causes of their homelessness and gaining stability.
The Education and Employment Specialist helps residents plan to increase their education level and/or improve their income.
Onsite classes help residents build skills such as financial literacy, resume building, interview skills, parenting classes and more.
Working closely with each individual to develop a unique plan for them to addresses their needs is what makes us successful. We are able to walk each step of the way with them until they are ready to stand on their own and graduate to their own safe stable housing.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We are now in our 26th year and have a consistent success rate of 82-85% of families graduating into permanent housing without further intervention.
We are seeing past residents going on to succeed in the medical field, banking industry, corporate levels at businesses, small business owners, and other fields. We are thrilled to have them come back to tell us about what House of Refuge meant to them and to give back to help current residents.
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?
We serve homeless families with minor children. Almost all are low-income single mothers.
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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?
We have implemented a system to document each family's needs and what food, clothing, and household items our residents are receiving from our Helping Hands center. This helps us our residents feel that distribution of items is fair and helps us better identify what items and supplies we should seek to obtain through donations and grants.
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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, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome
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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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.
HOUSE OF REFUGE INC
Board of directorsas of 03/02/2023
Barbara Guy
ProSmart Realty
Term: 2022 - 2023
Barbara Guy
ProSmart Realty
Audrey Alfano
Mercedes-Benz of Gilbert
Don Bird
US Air Force, Retired
Yira Brimage
Gilbert Park University
Jane Hanson
Arizona General Hospital
Kayla Kolar
House of Refuge
Mark Powell
Fairway Mortgage
Julissa Ricks
BriComp IT Consulting Services
Megan Ruffentine
BMO Private Bank
Crystal Sanchez
Arizona State Urological Institutes
Johna Switzer
Mesa Community College
Marty Tomljenovic
Marty's Event Planning
Nikia Towles
Price Cooper Waterhouse
Kenneth Weber
FDIC
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? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
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