The Sophia Way
Shelter. Safety. Stability.
The Sophia Way
EIN: 45-4084539
as of September 2023
as of September 18, 2023
Mission
The Sophia Way is a place of hope and change for women. We support them on their journey from homelessness to safe and stable living.
Ruling year
2012
Interim Executive Director
Dietra Clayton
Co Principal Officer
Zee Peters
Main address
1100 Bellevue Way NE #8A-110
Bellevue, WA 98004 USA
EIN
45-4084539
Housing for the homeless
Transitional living
Homeless shelters
Homeless services
Population served
Women
Homeless people
NTEE code
Homeless Services/Centers (P85)
IRS subsection
501(c)(3) Public Charity
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.
Tax forms
Communication
Programs and results
Reports and documents
Download annual reportsWhat we aim to solve
The Sophia Way provides life-saving services and programs, supporting women experiencing homelessness in King County. In 2006, our founder, Helen Luezzi, saw a need and responded by working with others in the community to initially open Angeline's Day Center, a place of shelter for homeless women during the day on weekdays. In 2008, The Sophia Way was founded, providing overnight shelter for women in need, case management, rent subsidies, and services to support them on their path to housing. At The Sophia Way, our goal is to make homelessness rare, brief, and one-time for the women experiencing it. The women who seek support are in survival mode. Our shelters offer them a warm, safe space to take a shower, rest, and sleep, and nourishing food to give them strength.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Day Center
The Day Center is open 8 am to 3 pm, every day, providing immediate services. Women can do laundry and take a shower. They have access to phones and computers. They are served nourishing meals - breakfast and lunch - prepared by generous volunteers. Many of the women have diabetes or other health challenges, and our emphasis on is healthy meals. The women also benefit from the different resource referrals and service providers including counseling, health checkups, legal assistance, resume help and job opportunities.
Extended-Stay Shelter
The shelter provides six months of stability to 21 women. They are given semi-private cubicle furnished with a bed and a lockers, and served healthy meals every day. Woven through their stay are supportive wrap around services including housing case management, financial coaching, and employment services. Our goal is to provide a continuum of care and services which guide women to a place to call home.
Emergency Shelter
Provides a safe and stable space for women experiencing homelessness to rest and heal. The shelter is open 24/7/365, offering women the care and comfort they need, while being supported in navigating their individual journey to stability and housing.
Housing Programs
Our overall goal is to help women move from temporary shelter to transitional & permanent housing as quickly as possible.
Where we work
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of women moved to stable housing
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
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
Number of meals served or provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
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?
The Sophia Way is committed to supporting women experiencing homelessness and moving them into housing, making homelessness rare, one-time, and brief.
We also are committed to working with other organizations to raise awareness of homelessness in King County in by promoting legislative measures to end homelessness in the community we serve.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
1. Increase capacity
2. Increase awareness of the Emergency and Day Center services
3. Conduct mobile outreach so staff connect and deliver life-saving services to women surviving on the streets.
4. Increase accessibility to the Emergency Shelter and Day Center.
5. Provide targeted case management services.
6. Equip and incentivize clients to collaborate with us in transitioning to housing.
7. Educate clients on the support and resources available when they move into independent housing.
8. Decrease length of stays across our programs.
9. Find more affordable housing (low-income or market rate).
10. Increase move-on strategy (moving current shelter clients into permanent housing).
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Trained and professional staff
Supportive donors and funders
Dedicated volunteers
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In 2021
> 426 women found shelter, safety, and stability
> 20,300 nights of safety and warmth for women
> 44,844 donated meals nourished women
> 85 women moved into their own home
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 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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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, It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve
Financials
Financial documents
Download audited financialsRevenue vs. expenses: breakdown
Liquidity in 2021 info
9.08
Months of cash in 2021 info
4.9
Fringe rate in 2021 info
18%
Funding sources info
Assets & liabilities info
Financial data
The Sophia Way
Balance sheetFiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
The balance sheet gives a snapshot of the financial health of an organization at a particular point in time. An organization's total assets should generally exceed its total liabilities, or it cannot survive long, but the types of assets and liabilities must also be considered. For instance, an organization's current assets (cash, receivables, securities, etc.) should be sufficient to cover its current liabilities (payables, deferred revenue, current year loan, and note payments). Otherwise, the organization may face solvency problems. On the other hand, an organization whose cash and equivalents greatly exceed its current liabilities might not be putting its money to best use.
Fiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
This snapshot of The Sophia Way’s financial trends applies Nonprofit Finance Fund® analysis to data hosted by GuideStar. While it highlights the data that matter most, remember that context is key – numbers only tell part of any story.
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Business model indicators
| Profitability info | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) before depreciation | $53,236 | $134,088 | $742,894 | $652,848 | $302,429 |
| As % of expenses | 3.2% | 7.8% | 29.6% | 18.2% | 7.5% |
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) after depreciation | $20,747 | $101,595 | $720,397 | $622,829 | $259,511 |
| As % of expenses | 1.2% | 5.8% | 28.5% | 17.2% | 6.4% |
| Revenue composition info | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue (unrestricted & restricted) | $1,777,636 | $2,259,623 | $3,675,372 | $3,605,189 | $4,363,097 |
| Total revenue, % change over prior year | 39.6% | 27.1% | 62.7% | -1.9% | 21.0% |
| Program services revenue | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.4% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Membership dues | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Investment income | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| Government grants | 28.6% | 24.2% | 19.4% | 45.9% | 38.9% |
| All other grants and contributions | 70.7% | 75.4% | 80.2% | 54.0% | 61.0% |
| Other revenue | 0.8% | 0.4% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| Expense composition info | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses before depreciation | $1,651,977 | $1,716,238 | $2,507,324 | $3,585,758 | $4,010,732 |
| Total expenses, % change over prior year | 40.1% | 3.9% | 46.1% | 43.0% | 11.9% |
| Personnel | 51.2% | 73.5% | 62.2% | 55.5% | 54.9% |
| Professional fees | 6.7% | 4.5% | 6.1% | 8.1% | 6.8% |
| Occupancy | 4.3% | 1.9% | 4.1% | 11.7% | 4.3% |
| Interest | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| Pass-through | 30.5% | 13.0% | 11.8% | 4.8% | 8.0% |
| All other expenses | 7.2% | 7.0% | 15.7% | 19.9% | 25.8% |
| Full cost components (estimated) info | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses (after depreciation) | $1,684,466 | $1,748,731 | $2,529,821 | $3,615,777 | $4,053,650 |
| One month of savings | $137,665 | $143,020 | $208,944 | $298,813 | $334,228 |
| Debt principal payment | $24,211 | $7,414 | $0 | $0 | $257,375 |
| Fixed asset additions | $0 | $0 | $0 | $794,769 | $0 |
| Total full costs (estimated) | $1,846,342 | $1,899,165 | $2,738,765 | $4,709,359 | $4,645,253 |
Capital structure indicators
| Liquidity info | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Months of cash | 2.8 | 5.3 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 4.9 |
| Months of cash and investments | 2.8 | 5.3 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 4.9 |
| Months of estimated liquid unrestricted net assets | 3.3 | 4.1 | 6.6 | 4.0 | 6.6 |
| Balance sheet composition info | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $388,530 | $750,903 | $694,358 | $1,120,072 | $1,633,334 |
| Investments | $0 | $0 | $19,651 | $0 | $0 |
| Receivables | $365,107 | $609,138 | $1,431,977 | $894,160 | $726,050 |
| Gross land, buildings, equipment (LBE) | $667,812 | $670,798 | $660,919 | $1,410,862 | $673,833 |
| Accumulated depreciation (as a % of LBE) | 25.5% | 30.3% | 33.3% | 14.5% | 33.1% |
| Liabilities (as a % of assets) | 7.4% | 9.0% | 11.0% | 12.0% | 5.1% |
| Unrestricted net assets | $957,280 | $1,058,875 | $1,779,272 | $2,402,101 | $2,661,612 |
| Temporarily restricted net assets | $231,368 | $640,665 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Permanently restricted net assets | $0 | $0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Total restricted net assets | $231,368 | $640,665 | $978,610 | $447,295 | $693,956 |
| Total net assets | $1,188,648 | $1,699,540 | $2,757,882 | $2,849,396 | $3,355,568 |
Key data checks
| Key data checks info | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Material data errors | No | No | No | No | No |
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Documents
Interim Executive Director
Dietra Clayton
Co Principal Officer
Zee Peters
Number of employees
Source: IRS Form 990
The Sophia Way
Officers, directors, trustees, and key employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
There are no highest paid employees recorded for this organization.
The Sophia Way
Board of directorsas of 02/10/2023
Board of directors data
Suzanne Justice
Suzanne Justice
Beth Osborne
Katoya Palmer
Danielle Porter
Sunita Shastri
Janice Zahn
Tanisha Davis-Doss
Alexis Harden
Viju McAllister
Niki Sharan
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:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Contractors
Fiscal year endingProfessional fundraisers
Fiscal year endingSOURCE: IRS Form 990 Schedule G
Solicitation activities
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- Letter of Determination
- Officer and/or Employee data for 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017
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