Erins House for Grieving Children Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Erin's House provides support services for children, teens and their families who have suffered the death of a loved one.
- Income
- $2.1 million
- Spending
- $1.8 million
- Spent on programs
- 81%
- Reserves
- 6.7 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 100%
- Employees
- 17
- Volunteers
- 146
- Highest pay
- $155,651, executive dir.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Strong: 93 out of 100. Higher than 80% of charities in its peer group (youth development, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
28 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 6.7 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 14% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 14% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 9% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1581% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 7 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 64% of charities in its peer group (youth development, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 2524 of 24 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
15 of 15Its accounts were audited 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, 2025, 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 (1)
- $1.4 million spent. Erin's House for Grieving Children, Inc. (Erin's House) offers Northeast Indiana communities open-ended grief support and peer support group programs for childern, teens and young adults ages 3 thru 25. All services are provided at no cost. Through partnerships with schools and community organizations, Erin's House works with families to prevent negative consequences of unresolved grief and to provide a safe, peer-supported environment for those who grieve the death of a loved one. During 2025, Erin's House helped over 3,500 individuals through phone support, various peer support programs, crisis response, grief education and school programs. Please see Schedule O for further information. Meetings for on-site programs are held twice a month per family and the auxiliary; school programs meet weekly for ten weeks. Families choose from several days of the week for the grief program (Mondays, Tuesdays, or Thursdays) and attend twice per month on that day. Erin's House Peer Support Group Services, and education related to these services, is provided in the following ways: * On-site Peer Support Services are available at 5670 YMCA Park Drive West, Fort Wayne, IN 46835* To serve the area's growing Hispanic population, we provide Spanish-speaking groups as part of our on-site programs.* Students, parents/caregivers, and teachers receive crisis response debriefing, in a peer-support setting, when tragedy and death affect their classrooms or youth groups.* We provide children and their parent(s)/caregiver(s) age and situational appropriate books and activity booklets at intake. * In addition to on-site services, we provide telephone support for families, friends, and concerned members of the community, schools, counselors, and local churches. * In order to raise community awareness of the way in which children grieve and how best to support them, we give community presentations to schools, social groups, churches, health fairs, festivals, colleges, and many corporations.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, 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 September 7, 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 September 30, 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 September 10, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since June 1993.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 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 October 7, 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.