Shining Hope Farms

“The directors/officers review the tax return to make sure it correctly reflects the organization's activities and goals. Our accounting team, executive team, and finance committee worked with an external cpa firm and performed a detailed review before providing a copy to the full board prior to filing.”

“Every member of the board of directors must complete a mandatory conflict of interest questionnaire at our annual meeting and disclose any possible conflict of interests. The information disclosed in the questionnaire is reviewed and actual or perceived conflict of interests are identified. Should someone have a conflict of interest we have the following procedures in place: 1. Duty to disclose in connection with any actual or possible conflict of interest, an interested person must disclose the existence of the financial interest and be given the opportunity to disclose all material facts to the board or executive committee. 2. Recusal of self - any director may recuse himself or herself at any time from involvement in any decision or discussion in which the director believes he or she has or may have a conflict of interest, without going through the process for determining whether a conflict of interest exists. 3. Determining whether a conflict of interest exists after disclosure of the financial interest and all material facts, and after any discussion with the interested person, he/she shall leave the board or executive committee meeting while the determination of a conflict of interset is discussed and voted upon. The remaining board or executive committee members shall decide if a conflict of interest exists. 4. Procedures for addressing the conflict of interest a. An interested person may make a presentation at the board or executive committee meeting, but after the presentation, he/she shall leave the meeting during the discussion of, and the vote on, the transaction or arrangement involving the possible conflict of interest. B. The chairperson of the board or executive committee shall, if appropriate, appoint a disinterested person or committee to investigate alternatives to the proposed transaction or arrangement. C. After exercising due diligence, the board or executive committee shall determine whether shining hope farms can obtain with reasonable efforts a more advantageous transaction or arrangement from a person or entity that would not give rise to a conflict of interest. D. If a more advantageous transaction or arrangement is not reasonably possible under circumstances not producing a conflict of interest, the board or executive committee shall determine by a majority vote of the disinterested directors whether the transaction or arrangement is in shining hope farm's best interest, for its own benefit, and whether it is fair and reasonable. In conformity with the above determination, it shall make its decision as to whether to enter into the transaction or arrangement.”

“The compensation for the executive director is discussed as needed annually. All board members are independent of the executive director. The board uses appropriate comparability data including salary information for comparable positions. The board reviews the executive director's achievements as well as the organization's current financial position and determines whether a change to compensation is needed. The discussion is then documented in board meeting minutes.”

“Our governing documents including the whistle blower policy, record retention policy, bylaws, articles of incorporation, financial statements, confidentiality policy, and conflict of interest policy, are available upon request.”

“Part 1, line 1, organization's mission and background: shining hope farms is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to enable children and adults to reach their full potential through the use of equine-assisted activities and therapies. Shining hope farms operates three locations in the western piedmont region of north carolina, offering equine assisted activities and therapies to benefit individuals of all ages with disabilities, veterans, and those in need of mental health counseling. We have three farms (charlotte, mt. Holly, and conover)serving twelve surrounding counties as a strategic reach to impact the greater charlotte and hickory areas. We would love the opportunity for you to tour one of our farms and learn more about the impact we make. Please contact our development director patrice gibson at [email protected] to schedule a tour today. Shining hope farms has received national recognition due to the positive measurable outcomes of its patients as well as its transparency of accounting practices. Shining hope farms is also a guidestar exchange gold participant, a leading symbol of transparency and accountability among nonprofits that 0.5% have achieved. We are very proud of this designation and would welcome the opportunity to share more information about our fiscal responsibility. In our most recent fiscal year, 97 cents of every dollar went to our programs which we aim to make affordable to the low-income community that is often unable to access equine assisted activities and therapies. In fact, of the families we serve, 35% are below 200% of the poverty line. 100% of the families we serve are able to access our programs with either nothing out of pocket or at very affordable rates. If you have questions about our 990 or any financial information, please reach out to us at 704.827.3788 or email [email protected]. Please allow us the opportunity to share more about who we are, and the impact we make, over a cup of coffee on us. Our development director patrice gibson would love to meet you and share more about our impact. She can be reached at [email protected]”

“Therapy services program first accomplishment in 2020, shining hope farms' therapy services program served 137 patients (mainly pediatric) over the course of 3,435 visits between our three locations. The program is conducted by licensed healthcare professionals and includes both equine assisted psychotherapy, occupational therapy (ot), physical therapy (pt), and speech-language pathology (slp) that incorporate hippotherapy as one of the treatment tools/strategies in the overall therapy plan. The term hippotherapy refers to how ot, pt and slp professionals use evidence-based practice and clinical reasoning in the purposeful manipulation of equine movement to engage sensory, neuromotor and cognitive systems to achieve functional outcomes. Onsite clinics are also used for off-mounted activities to help achieve certain goals. Historically, 85% of patients who received ot, pt or slp treatment have made functional gains helping to improve their quality of life. Our emphasis is placed on serving low income families and the majority of the clients in 2020 were able to access our program without any out-of- pocket costs. In 2020, this program received a grant from the carrie e. And lena v. Glenn foundation.”

“See schedule o therapeutic riding program second accomplishment in 2020, shining hope farms' therapeutic riding program served 122 clients over the course of 1,873 lessons. The program provides goal-oriented, recreational group or private lessons and is conducted by a professional association of therapeutic horsemanship international certified riding instructor. In the lessons, individuals participate in games and activities, while learning riding and horsemanship skills, which can facilitate improvements in the areas of emotional stabilitiy, social interaction, cognition and physical abilities. A horse leader and side walkers assist the riders, which provide an enjoyable social environment.”