Friends of Sarnelli House Ua
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Raise funds for Sarnelli House Hospice & Orphanage. This public charity was established to ensure low cost funding for the Redemptorist Fathers (A Roman Catholic Order of Priest and Brothers- Denver Province) Mission work. Specifically, in the past they have relied on direct contributions. The founders are friends, relatives and neighbors of Father Michael Shea, a Redemptorist priest who has been doing mission work for over 50 years. This group wants to ensure that his work receives funding in the most cost effective manner. The members and trustees of this group receive no salary or fees of any kind whatsoever for their work. All funds collected will be distributed to support the charitable work of the Redemptorist Fathers, specifically Sarnelli House.
- Income
- $912,758
- Spending
- $768,412
- Spent on programs
- 94%
- Reserves
- 86.6 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 79%
- Employees
- 0
- Volunteers
- 20
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 87% of charities in its peer group (international, $250k to $1m).
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 86.6 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 16% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 14% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1594% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 0 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 91 out of 100. Higher than 79% of charities in its peer group (international, $250k to $1m).
Independent board
25 of 2520 of 20 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Independent check of accounts
6 of 15Its accounts were not audited or reviewed by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (4)
- $38,400 spent. The Outreach Program is a program to visit HIV/AIDS patients in their homes. Fr. Mike Shea started this outreach work with three novitiates from the Redemptorists Novitiate in Nongkhai as his staff and visited the first adult AIDS patient group in Don Wai. Fr Mike Shea and three novices at the beginning working for HIV/AIDS people The Outreach Program covers 5 provinces of the Northeast Thailand and sees approximately 70 families. It provides for the primary needs of families affected by HIV/AIDS by supplying medicines, food and money for educating the children. As well as the home visits, the Outreach Program has visits prisoners in jail, who do not have any relatives to visit them. Once a month the Outreach Team has an activities day in Don Wai where the families and children are picked up and driven to Don Wai for lunch, writing letters to their sponsors and general support. The orphanage is recognized in the community as a place of safe refuge. Many of the in-person Outreach programs were modified to accommodate the COVID outbreak. Some of these modifications continued through 2024
- $144,600 spent. Charlene House Charlene House is a 6 room facility for housing visiting volunteers. It has 2 beds per room and shared bathrooms. One room is wheelchair accessible. Funds raised by Friends of Sarnelli House have been earmarked to provide a place for volunteers to reside. There are not suitable housing alternatives for volunteers who come to donate their time for projects such as painting buildings. More broadly, in 2024 Sarnelli House began undertaking large maintenance construction project to repair and future-proof some of the children's houses. The boys at St. Patrick's had to move out for six weeks as the roof there needed to be replaced and they recently returned to new bathrooms and freshly painted walls, inside and out. The Sarnelli House boys also got new bathrooms and a paint job and House of Hope had a roof and ceiling replaced. The babies' dorm received new air conditioners and sealed doors and windows for the hot season, and there are now air purifiers in place to counter the hazardous seasonal pollution. Kitchens were remodeled. Some of this work will continue into 2025 and 2026.
- $89,600 spent. Purchase food and goods for the Sarnelli Orphanage. Tuition for the children in school is also part of this Program. This year saw an increase in the need for food, supplies and drugs due to the complications from COVID quarantine. The cost of food increased and this caused increase expenses.
- $447,000 spent. FOSH provides financial support to pay for the salary of staff, Also covered under this grant is transportation cost for the children to go the hospital, as well as to school. Whilst the orphanage grows and sources much of their own food, there are costs associated with food, cooking gas which FOSH supports. Also included is cost for visiting nurse and physical therapist
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2024.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since May 2006.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated November 4, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.