HIGHTSTOWN-EAST WINDSOR COMMUNITY ACTION SER CENTER
i rise do you?
HIGHTSTOWN-EAST WINDSOR COMMUNITY ACTION SER CENTER
EIN: 22-2405087
as of September 2023
as of September 18, 2023
Mission
Mission: Through community partnerships and direct services, we assist local families and individuals in recovering from setbacks and achieving their full potential.
Vision: We strive to be the center of social support services in the Hightstown/East Windsor area, building a cohesive environment where families thrive and feel optimistic about their future.
Ruling year
1982
Executive Director
Ms. Leslie Koppel
Main address
PO Box 88
Hightstown, NJ 08520 USA
Formerly known as
Community Action Service Center
CASC
EIN
22-2405087
Human services
Thrift shops
Family services
Youth organizing
Population served
Children and youth
Adults
Immigrants and migrants
Economically disadvantaged people
NTEE code
Family Services (P40)
Youth Development Programs (O50)
Thrift Shops (P29)
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 other documentsWhat we aim to solve
Rise strives to provide critical assistance to individuals and families in the local community who are lacking in the necessary resources. We assist families who are in transition and require either direct services or referrals to address their needs. Some of our programs include the Rise Food Pantry, the Rise Summer Academic Enrichment Program, Youth Development classes, and Health and Wellness programming.
We offer a safe environment where bilingual Case Managers meet with clients one-on-one to discuss plans for self-sufficiency.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Summer Academic Enrichment Program
In partnership with East Windsor Regional School District(http://www.eastwindsorregionalschools.com/ewrs) , we host the Summer Academic Enrichment Program, a six-week summer day camp program for local children from kindergarten through eighth grade. This program is designed to provide quality summer childcare for local families while providing a fun and educational experience. Fees are assessed on a sliding scale in order to be affordable to all families. Summer Camp applications are available on the Rise website.
Rise Pantry and Seasonal Programs
As a member of the nutrition alliance with Mercer Street Friends, our program feeds hundreds of families every year and provides nutrition education. Also, we deliver hot Thanksgiving meals and baskets to over 550 families.
Open three mornings a week 52 weeks per year and two evening a month- the Rise Food Pantry serves over 400 unique families each month.
Rise Thrift Store
Rise Thrift Store provides our local community with affordable, top-quality resale clothing, furniture, and household goods. Proceeds cover operating costs and fund family support programs that benefit families in the Hightstown-East Windsor area.
Rise to the TASK Community Suppers
In collaboration with the First United Methodist Church of Hightstown, Rise: A Community Service Partnership, 1st Presbyterian Church of Hightstown, and St. James A.M.E. Church, the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK) is now offering a third night of free meal service in Hightstown.
Safe Dates
Safe Dates is a ten-session dating abuse prevention program that is offered to middle school students. This program aims to raise students’ awareness of what constitutes healthy and abusive dating relationships, raise students’ awareness of dating abuse, change adolescent norms about dating violence, and equip students with the skills and resources to help themselves or friends in abusive dating relationships. It focuses on teaching positive skills for healthy dating relationships, including positive communication, anger management, and conflict resolution. Counseling support is provided for children and families.
Where we work
Awards
Special Community Enhancement Contributions to East Windsor Township 2015
East Windsor Township Business Award
Affiliations & memberships
Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce 2019
External reviews
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?
Understand the interdependence of clients, communities and programs. Our goals recognize that client improvements aggregate to, and reinforce, community improvements, and that strong and well-administered programs underpin both.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Rise- Three Major Program Areas
1. Family Basic Needs
Comprehensive Case Management is available to clients pn Monday-Thursday from 9AM-4PM and on Friday from 9AM-1PM.
Latino Domestic Violence Prevention is a collaborative effort with Womanspace as a partner.
Emergency Assistance: For families in crisis, we intervene to prevent homelessness by providing funding for short-term emergency shelter and utility payment assistance.
Rise Food Pantry: A year-round pantry of non-perishable and perishable food, which includes USDA commodities, with an alliance with Mercer Street Friends.
Holiday Food Basket and "Adopt a Family" Program: As an extension of our Food Pantry and in partnership with the Americana Diner and the Junior League of Greater Princeton, we register hundreds of families for hot meals and food baskets which are delivered to their doors. Holiday gifts for children are donated for the holiday party in the month of December.
Martin Luther King Jr. Sleepy Time Drive: Rise sponsors a drive to collect toothbrushes, toothpaste, bedtime books, slippers, and pajamas for children as part of the MLK Jr. Sleepy Time Drive in January.
Rise to the TASK: In partnership with TASK, Rise provides a free, weekly community supper for the residents of Hightstown and East Windsor.
Winter Coat Drive and Springtime Spruce Up Personal Care Drive
2. Individual Development
Adult Development: Assist clients looking for employment or ways to improve their job skills by helping them find employment and training, explore careers, write resumes, complete job applications, and prepare for interviews.
Youth Development: Summer Academic Enrichment Program is a six-week summer day camp program designed to enrich our local youth and provide affordable, quality childcare for up to 125 children in grades K-8.
Middle School Safe Dates: A youth-based curriculum that offers participants information centered on developing healthy relationships.
7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens: Based on the bestselling book by Sean Covey, students identify solutions to problems that they face every day by teaching them strategies and self-evaluation techniques.
goLEAD: GenerationOn Leadership, Education, and Development (goLEAD) is a carefully crafted youth leadership institute for high school students.
Rise to College Readiness: A catalyst for developing college aspirations, charting a course for students, and imparting knowledge about the college application process to juniors and seniors in high school and their families.
Rise to Youth Entrepreneurship: The initiative will remove the barriers preventing youth in the East Windsor/Hightstown community from pursuing a successful career path by providing math, personal and business literacy courses and mentoring.
3. Family Health and Wellness
Health Care Access Counseling
Annual Health and Wellness Fair
Family and Children's Mental Health
Nutrition and Parenting Classes
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
• IMPLEMENTATION ACTIVITIES
a. Through case management, provide access to the resources that extend beyond our community with referrals and linkages.
b. Offer services in a setting that is accessible to the clients served.
c. Provide adequate space for case managers to meet with clients to assess/meet their needs.
d. Provide regular access to the Rise Food Pantry for families.*
e. Provide access to the Greater Goods Thrift Stores for families in need of household essentials.*
f. Provide internet access for the purpose of upgrading employment and increasing the family income.
g. Provide bilingual/bicultural staff that reflects the diverse community served.
h. Provide positive nutritional information to clients.
i. Screen for Domestic Violence.*
j. Provide hot meal delivery at Thanksgiving for at least 100 families.*
k. Provide a complete Thanksgiving meal for registered families.*
l. Provide food pantry services 3 mornings a week for 52 weeks per year and two evenings per month.*
m. Provide access to health services at the annual Health Fair.*
n. Access to Medi-Cool program for seniors and disabled adults.*
o. Sponsor Safe-Dates program for girls in middle-school.*
p. Sponsor 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens in Middle School.*
q. Sponsor goLEAD (leadership development program in local high schools).*
r. Provide back to school supplies.*
s. Provide pajamas, a book, and toothbrush and toothpaste.*
t. Ease Holiday stress with holiday presents, winter clothing and holiday party for at least 100 clients.*
u. Provide affordable, quality child care for six weeks (full day program) during the summer to assist clients with a safe place for kids to grow and learn while they work.*
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Goals Met: The 2017 accomplishments for all programs are noted below.
• provided comprehensive case management to 885 individuals
• furnished 486 families with 25,907 boxes of food and nutrition information through our food pantry
• linked 110 families to food stamp resources
• provided 129 youth with 6 weeks of academic enrichment programming and nutritious meals and snacks during the summer program
• assisted 221 individuals with obtaining emergency assistance ranging from utilities, shelter, food, and clothing
• helped 26 people in finding employment resources such as job banks and classes to develop job skills
• supplied 11 individuals with an onsite Womanspace domestic violence counselor
• linked 51 individuals to a AAMH counselor by providing referrals for individual and family counseling
• provided 1003 children with holiday gifts donated by the community and hosted a holiday party in partnership with the Junior League of Greater Princeton
• included 29 families in the “Adopt A Family" holiday program
• linked 113 elderly and disabled individuals with the Americana Diner to receive a hot Thanksgiving meal
• presented 384 families with a Thanksgiving Food Basket from generous donors throughout the community
• offered 52 individuals access to health screenings, information and resources at the Annual Health and Wellness Fair
• united with the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen and 3 local churches in distributing 22,484 hot community suppers at the 'Rise to the TASK' three times a week.
• provided 46 middle school children with access to Safe Dates teen dating abuse prevention program
• presented lecture series for 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens to 46 students; goLEAD training to 35 students
• supplied 573 students with Back-to-School backpacks and supplies in conjunction with local houses of worship
Financials
Financial documents
Download audited financialsRevenue vs. expenses: breakdown
Liquidity in 2021 info
12.80
Months of cash in 2021 info
6.3
Fringe rate in 2021 info
14%
Funding sources info
Assets & liabilities info
Financial data
HIGHTSTOWN-EAST WINDSOR COMMUNITY ACTION SER CENTER
Revenue & expensesFiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
HIGHTSTOWN-EAST WINDSOR COMMUNITY ACTION SER CENTER
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.
HIGHTSTOWN-EAST WINDSOR COMMUNITY ACTION SER CENTER
Financial trends analysis Glossary & formula definitionsFiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
This snapshot of HIGHTSTOWN-EAST WINDSOR COMMUNITY ACTION SER CENTER’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 | $6,357 | $18,964 | $43,056 | $483,018 | $384,620 |
| As % of expenses | 0.7% | 2.1% | 4.6% | 50.2% | 27.7% |
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) after depreciation | $1,499 | $7,528 | $24,573 | $464,865 | $327,136 |
| As % of expenses | 0.2% | 0.8% | 2.6% | 47.5% | 22.7% |
| Revenue composition info | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue (unrestricted & restricted) | $865,926 | $910,012 | $983,979 | $1,444,396 | $1,709,704 |
| Total revenue, % change over prior year | 9.0% | 5.1% | 8.1% | 46.8% | 18.4% |
| Program services revenue | 5.2% | 5.2% | 4.8% | 0.0% | 1.5% |
| Membership dues | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Investment income | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| Government grants | 29.0% | 27.1% | 19.9% | 14.6% | 25.8% |
| All other grants and contributions | 25.1% | 26.0% | 35.4% | 67.6% | 49.5% |
| Other revenue | 40.5% | 41.4% | 39.5% | 17.7% | 23.1% |
| Expense composition info | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses before depreciation | $859,595 | $891,048 | $942,184 | $961,378 | $1,386,384 |
| Total expenses, % change over prior year | 8.7% | 3.7% | 5.7% | 2.0% | 44.2% |
| Personnel | 61.0% | 61.3% | 61.9% | 59.1% | 54.9% |
| Professional fees | 9.6% | 10.2% | 9.6% | 13.3% | 15.5% |
| Occupancy | 12.1% | 12.7% | 9.8% | 9.8% | 11.9% |
| Interest | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.0% | 0.4% | 0.0% |
| Pass-through | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| All other expenses | 17.3% | 15.8% | 17.7% | 17.6% | 17.7% |
| Full cost components (estimated) info | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses (after depreciation) | $864,453 | $902,484 | $960,667 | $979,531 | $1,443,868 |
| One month of savings | $71,633 | $74,254 | $78,515 | $80,115 | $115,532 |
| Debt principal payment | $0 | $3,666 | $4,625 | $87,709 | $36,500 |
| Fixed asset additions | $304,111 | $0 | $19,069 | $0 | $500,407 |
| Total full costs (estimated) | $1,240,197 | $980,404 | $1,062,876 | $1,147,355 | $2,096,307 |
Capital structure indicators
| Liquidity info | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Months of cash | 5.3 | 5.9 | 6.4 | 12.7 | 6.3 |
| Months of cash and investments | 5.3 | 5.9 | 6.4 | 12.7 | 6.3 |
| Months of estimated liquid unrestricted net assets | 6.4 | 6.4 | 6.3 | 11.1 | 6.4 |
| Balance sheet composition info | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $379,097 | $436,111 | $499,278 | $1,017,842 | $732,405 |
| Investments | $0 | $0 | $500 | $0 | $0 |
| Receivables | $71,349 | $75,323 | $55,886 | $47,320 | $146,874 |
| Gross land, buildings, equipment (LBE) | $378,798 | $378,798 | $396,799 | $396,799 | $896,670 |
| Accumulated depreciation (as a % of LBE) | 16.3% | 19.1% | 22.7% | 27.1% | 18.3% |
| Liabilities (as a % of assets) | 26.0% | 29.1% | 29.9% | 6.9% | 3.5% |
| Unrestricted net assets | $589,862 | $597,390 | $621,963 | $1,086,827 | $1,413,963 |
| Temporarily restricted net assets | $0 | $0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Permanently restricted net assets | $0 | $0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Total restricted net assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $231,600 | $170,300 |
| Total net assets | $589,862 | $597,390 | $621,963 | $1,318,427 | $1,584,263 |
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
Executive Director
Ms. Leslie Koppel
Executive Director, Leslie Koppel has a unique background in both retail management and public policy. For over two decades, Ms. Koppel worked in traditional retail settings, retail management and later in direct sales, design and marketing. After starting a family, she became engaged in local public policy particularly in the area of education. She won elected office as a councilperson in 2006 and 2010, and followed her passion returning to the Bloustein School at Rutgers University to earn a Masters Degree of Public Affairs and Politics in 2009. She became Middlesex County Freeholder in 2017.
In the spring of 2010, Ms. Koppel was hired as Director of the Greater Goods Thrift Store. Under her leadership, Greater Goods turned from red to black, producing a net income for the first time since its 2006 launch. In September of 2010, Ms.Koppel incorporated the Director of Greater Goods Thrift Store responsibilities into her current position serving as Executive Director of Rise.
Number of employees
Source: IRS Form 990
HIGHTSTOWN-EAST WINDSOR COMMUNITY ACTION SER CENTER
Officers, directors, trustees, and key employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
There are no highest paid employees recorded for this organization.
HIGHTSTOWN-EAST WINDSOR COMMUNITY ACTION SER CENTER
Board of directorsas of 06/19/2023
Board of directors data
Mrs. Nancy Laudenberger
No affiliation
Nancy Walker Laudenberger
Government Representative
Carlos Fernandez
Rutgers University
Al Rosenberg
East Windsor Township Council Member
Betsy Wallace
Wallace Consulting
Susannah Hollister
Marcia E. Suarez
Legal Services of New Jersey
Kevin Perlmutter
Limbic Brand Evolution
Carol Tegen
Open Society Foundations
Marjorie A. Gutman
Gutman Research Associates
Rakesh Bhatia
NRG Energy
Karin R. Mitchell
Jill S. Westerberg
Westerberg Law LLC
Tom Davidson
The Taubman Company
Board leadership practices
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? 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
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
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