Breaking Ground Housing Development Fund Corporation

“Organization's process used to review form 990 THE FORM 990 WAS PREPARED BY AN INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTING FIRM IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE ORGANIZATION'S FINANCE DEPARTMENT. THE FORM HAS BEEN REVIEWED FOR COMPLETENESS AND ACCURACY REGARDING MISSION, PROGRAM ACTIVITIES, FINANCIALS AND GOVERNANCE BY MEMBERS OF THE CORPORATIONS MANAGEMENT. IT HAS ALSO BEEN DISCUSSED AND REVIEWED WITH THE AUDIT CHAIR. THE FINAL VERSIONS WERE MADE AVAILABLE TO EACH MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS PRIOR TO FILING WITH THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE. DISCUSSION OF FORM 990 REQUIREMENTS, CONTENTS AND BOARD RESPONSIBILITIES OCCUR AT AN ANNUAL BOARD MEETING.”

“Enforcement of Conflict of interest policy The policy and annual disclosure forms are distributed to all board members, officers and management staff. Each individual is required to sign and review the disclosure form and provide information about any relationships they may have with Breaking Ground Housing Development Fund Corporations' other employees, and/or vendors that conduct business with Breaking Ground Housing Development Fund Corporation. All submissions are reviewed by Human Resources to determine if a conflict exists; when a conflict arises, the individuals affected are prohibited from participating in the decision-making process related to any transaction occurring with the conflicted organization. FORM 990, PART VI, SECTION B, LINE 15 THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF BREAKING GROUND HOUSING DEVELOPMENT FUND CORPORATION REVIEWS THE COMPENSATION OF THE CEO. breaking ground housing development fund corporation commissions a compensation study by an outside, independent compensation consultant every three years to assure the competitiveness of the compensation structure and to make recommendations to the board. THE LAST STUDY WAS COMPLETED IN APRIL 22, 2016. ALL JOBS, except those reviewed by the board, WITHIN BREAKING GROUND HOUSING DEVELOPMENT FUND CORPORATION ARE CLASSIFIED, BASED ON THE COMPLEXITY AND SKILL LEVEL REQUIRED FOR THE POSITION. ALL such SALARIES ARE REVIEWED ON AN ANNUAL BASIS WHICH CORRESPONDS TO THE PERFORMANCE REVIEW CYCLE. BREAKING GROUND HOUSING DEVELOPMENT FUND CORPORATION believes that its compensation is competitive with other not-for-profit organizations of a similiar scale and complexity.”

“Breaking Ground Housing Development Fund Corporation makes its Form 990 available to the public by retaining a copy at its place of business. The Form 990 is likewise published on the internet at www.guidestar.org. The organization's financial statements, governing documents and conflict of interest policy are not ordinarily made available to the public, but, if requested, will be provided at management's discretion. Form 990, Part IX Breaking Ground Housing Development Fund Corporation does not have its own employees or its own payroll. All employees providing services to Breaking Ground Housing Development Fund Corporation receive their W-2s from a related organization, Common Ground Management Corporation. Expenditures reported on Part IX, Lines 7, 8, 9 and 10 represent the portion of salary and benefits expenditures allocated to Breaking Ground Housing Development Fund Corporation based on services rendered to the organization.”

“Breaking Ground conducts a variety of other program service activities including the Montrose Campus, a veterans' transitional residence and the Elderly Care Health Outreach (ECHO) program. Breaking Ground assists several special needs segments of the chronically homeless population in New York City, and regrettably, these include a significant number of military veterans. We serve veterans in all program areas, from street outreach to transitional and permanent supportive housing. Homeless veterans comprise approximately 11% of our total client base. Our veterans transitional residence on the Montrose Campus of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is unique in offering a writing workshop for the community there. Writings and drawings from the workshop were published in "Afterwords: On Common Ground." The Foyer Program Young people who spend the majority of their childhoods in foster care face significant challenges. For many, instability has been the one constant in their young lives, and they often experience homelessness even before they become adults. Foster youth are 44% less likely to complete high school than their age cohorts in general, and less than half of former foster youth are employed within four years of emancipation. To serve these vulnerable young people before they became homeless and to end homelessness among young adults Breaking Ground introduced the Foyer program, a housing model developed in Great Britain that provides economically disadvantaged youth who do not have family support with affordable housing linked to services that enable a successful transition to adulthood. Breaking Grounds Foyer program, started in 2004 in collaboration with Good Shepherd Services at The Christopher was the first in New York City to target young adults without families, a group identified in Mayor Bloombergs five-year plan to end homelessness as particularly vulnerable. The success of this pioneering program and the dearth of housing units available to meet the need by our underserved youth population within the Foyer program led to the development of our second Foyer site at The Lee on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. To address the unique challenges faced by homeless and at-risk youth, who are typically unattached to education or employment, the Foyer program provides the educational, employment, and mentoring support young adults need to create stable, independent lives, in a residential setting. Our Foyer/Youth Services Partners: *Good Shepherd Services (The Christopher) *The Door (The Lee) For more information about these programs, please visit the organization's website.”