Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Mar 1946.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
80 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
Something off? Claim to add context
Who runs it and what they're paid
46 people listed on the 990; $2.8M paid to officers and key staff.
Renee Skolaski’s $291K as President/CEO is at the 74th percentile of top reported officer pay among 3122 $10–100M human services nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Renee Skolaski | $290,631 | $287,837 | $298,618 | $188,380 | — | — |
| Gerard McCaffery | — | — | — | $151,553 | $292,911 | $252,886 |
| Carla Defrancisco | — | — | $168,600 | $199,709 | $225,690 | $194,577 |
| Jacqueline McKelvey | — | $186,380 | $202,404 | $194,168 | $219,723 | $189,775 |
| Michol Holloway | — | — | — | — | $188,298 | $172,712 |
| Talya Gilaad | $144,398 | $145,042 | — | — | $182,402 | $161,503 |
| Gabrielle Phillip | — | $180,810 | — | — | — | — |
| Achim Kretschmer | $155,836 | $155,787 | $163,206 | $150,375 | $170,418 | $146,347 |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
See Mercyfirst executive salaries →Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Provides short-term shelter to unaccompanied refugee children until they are unified with a sponsor family.
Questions for Mercyfirst
Your first name shows with your question. Mercyfirst answers here, for everyone.
Start with hope programs provides short-term shelter to unaccompanied refugee children(minors who arrive in the us without a parent or guardian, and who are fleeing areas of extreme poverty, violence, sexual exploitation, drug related gang activity, and human trafficking) until they areunified with a sponsor family
Start with hope programs provides short-term shelter to unaccompanied refugee children(minors who arrive in the us without a parent or guardian, and who are fleeing areas of extreme poverty, violence, sexual exploitation, drug related gang activity, and human trafficking) until they areunified with a sponsor family
Family foster care and adoption programs provide foster care children with a safe and loving home that promotes growth and development, enablin children to reach their fullest potential with the goal of providing each child premanency via reunification with a birth parent or adoption with a foster parent.
Family foster care and adoption programs provide foster care children with a safe and loving home that promotes growth and development, enablin children to reach their fullest potential with the goal of providing each child premanency via reunification with a birth parent or adoption with a foster parent.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
Federal money
The auditor reported no findings.
The auditor reported no findings.
Plus 3 smaller programs.
The auditor reported 11 findings: a material weakness in money controls.
Plus 3 smaller programs.
The auditor reported 6 findings: a material weakness in money controls.
By the numbers
The FY2023 990, line by line.
Download 990
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 LatestFiled with the IRS Mar 24, 2026 | $61.8M | $61.3M | $468K | $2.7M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024Filed with the IRS Apr 30, 2025 | $56.3M | $57.2M | −$855K | $2.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 ViewingFiled with the IRS Mar 6, 2025 | $48.3M | $53.1M | −$4.9M | $3.0M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022Filed with the IRS May 15, 2023 | $52.6M | $47.0M | $5.6M | $7.9M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021Filed with the IRS May 16, 2022 | $46.4M | $50.1M | −$3.7M | $2.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020Filed with the IRS May 17, 2021 | $46.6M | $46.9M | −$270K | $6.0M | 990 PDF |
Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2023 990 (1 part)
Part VI · Governance 14 of 14 board members independent, 1 to look at
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2023 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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