Coming Home of Middlesex County
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
The mission of Coming Home is to create a system to end homelessness in Middlesex County by fostering collaborations and public-private partnerships among all stakeholders to ensure that people have a stable place to call home and connections to community resources to provide them the choices and opportunities to pursue healthy lifestyles.
- Income
- $1.4 million
- Spending
- $1.3 million
- Spent on programs
- 84%
- Reserves
- 16.2 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- government grants, 51%
- Employees
- 16
- Volunteers
- 11
- Highest pay
- $130,050, executive dir.
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 90% of charities in its peer group (human services, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 16.2 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 9% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 7% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 36% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1584% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 4 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
Good: 85 out of 100. Higher than 38% of charities in its peer group (human services, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 2511 of 11 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.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
0 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 (6)
- $425,741 spent. Coordinated Entry & Assessment - In collaboration with homeless service providers, Coming Home created a system of standardized assessment and coordinated referral of people experiencing a housing crisis. The goals of the system are to minimize the time anyone in the county experiences a crisis and to prioritize available assistance, based on vulnerability and severity of service needs. A coordinated entry & assessment (CEA) system also provides information about social and health service needs and gaps to help our broader community better plan its assistance and identify the resources needed. The chronological waiting lists of the past have become instead prioritization lists, making sure that we rehouse, as quickly as possible, the persons most in need.Pursuant to the CEA process, all persons enter the system through calling NJ 211, the homeless hotline, or visiting a few physical access sites in the community where a triage is conducted using a concise, standard assessment tool and standard protocols. A person can be immediately placed into service programs, e.g., a shelter bed, the board of social services. The service programs will conduct a full assessment, using a more expansive tool to determine needs, strengths and barriers to housing. They forward their assessments to the CEA team, housed in coming home, which maintains an inventory of available housing options, reviews the assessments done by the agencies and prioritizes placement based on appropriateness, vulnerability and severity of service needs.
- $194,617 spent. Social And Healthcare Integration (SHI)- Coming Home convened a collaborative of social service providers, health care providers and professional school representatives in 2016 to respond to an RFP from the center for Medicare and Medicaid services asking communities to build a bridge between the healthcare and social systems in the community in order to effectively address the "social determinants of health" of the high utilizers of the hospitals' emergency rooms, we were not awarded the CMS grant, but used our work to institute the SHI program whereby RWJUH (part of Barnabas Health) and Saint Peter's University Hospital fund the cost of two social service navigators on a 2-year term basis to address the social determinants of health of their high utilizers of their ed. Coming Home obtained, permanent supportive housing vouchers from the state department of community affairs to house persons from this population who are homelessness. The goal of SHI is to improve the health outcomes of the clients and to reduce unnecessary, and often unreimbursed, costs to the health care system due to inappropriate use of the hospitals ERs. SHI fully launched in January 2019 and has been renewed on a 2 year term basis for 4 terms.
- $128,378 spent. Community Based Case Management - Coming Home provides direct case management to people in the community experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness and entering the system through the 211 homeless hotline or physical access sites in the community. With limited funding, we can provide short term temporary (1-2 nights) emergency hotel/motel placement when the shelters are unavailable. The same fund can also be used, if possible, to assist clients in establishing themselves in permanent housing, through the provision of 1 1/2 months' rent. The latter approach clearly leads to a much better outcome for the client and it is how we strive to use the funds.
- $123,975 spent. Data Driven Decision Making (3DM)- Coming Home applied for, and was awarded, a data grant from the office of homelessness prevention in the NJ dept of community affairs (DCA), on behalf of the Middlesex County Housing Continuum of Care (COC), that afforded it funds to hire a data analyst. The grant term started in august 2023. We hired a data analyst and trained him in HMIS and the homeless system. In February 2024, DCA launched a 6 week program (every Friday for 2 hours) training us in data analysis and its tools. We convened leadership of agencies in the county; prepared program culmination presentation (including logic model) and presented at convening in April at Harvard. We brought it to full COC in June 2024 and have been working on leading the launch of noted activities since. We have also spent 6 months cleaning up the data in HMIS and holding trainings in HMIS and coordinated assessment process and set up a system of accountability for COC member agencies so that we do are not the sole source of quality data. Each agency needs to own its data. We further integrated the 3DM state initiative with our plans from the national Built For Zero (BFZ) initiative which has strengthened our approach to ending homelessness to make it more digestible for member agencies and to improve our ability to analyze real-time data and make informed decisions.
- $119,100 spent. Data - Coming Home is the clearinghouse for homelessness data. We administer the homeless management information system (HMIS), which facilitates the coordinated provision of services to all seeking them and we are the point-in-time (PIT) data coordinator for the county. We train volunteers and agency personnel in the administration of the PIT survey. We lead the Built For Zero initiative of community solutions, a national organization, helping communities end homelessness. This collaboration is helping us refine our data measurements and define discrete goals to achieve in workable timeframes. Most importantly in this regard, we won a competitive state grant to hire a system dedicated data analyst on behalf of the county housing continuum of care and lead the county in the data driven decision making program run by the state.
- $69,603 spent. Middlesex County Housing First Capital Fund - Coming Home receives and reviews applications from affordable housing developers for funds from the countys housing first capital fund (HFCF), a million dollars allocated annually by the county commissioners, specifically for the creation of affordable housing for those who are homeless. We make recommendations to the county on the merits of the application, similar to an underwriter reviewing an application for traditional financing. Coming home comprehensively reviews the application as to cost-effectiveness and fulfillment of the needs of homeless people in the county. The project must provide support for social services and be conveniently located to transportation and amenities. For this work, we receive 5% of the amount awarded as an administrative fee.
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 April 2009.
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.