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· Public charity

Bridge Over Troubled Waters Inc

Bridge over troubled waters provides effective and innovative services to homeless, at-risk, and runaway youth, helps youth avoid a lifetime of dependency on social services, guides youth towards self-sufficiency, and enables youth to transform their lives and build fulfilling, meaningful futures.

$2.2M
Granted FY2025still arriving
8
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$980k
Largest
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Housing & Shelter$3.9MHuman Services$2.7MCrime & Legal$1.0MYouth Development$323kPhilanthropy$84kHealth$47k
02FY2025 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 8 grants below total $1,422,332, the rows itemized in this filing. The $2,176,607 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $754,275 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k3 grants · $82k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $360k
  • $250k+1 grant · $980k
$56,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$21M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS$980,001
JUSTICE RESOURCE INSTITUTE$188,258
Y2Y NETWORK INC$65,000
MORE THAN WORDS$56,000
SOMERVILLE HOMELESS COALITION INC$51,000
WSK HOUSE INC$46,596
BEAT THE ODDS INC$25,000
BRUNSON HOUSE INC$10,477
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY19–25, $2.9M) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%SOMERVILLE HOMELESS COALITION INC: $51k → 8%SOMERVILLE HOMELESS COALITION INC: $51k → 8%SOMERVILLE HOMELESS COALITION INC: $34k → 8%HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS: $980k → 16%SOMERVILLE HOMELESS COALITION INC: $29k → 8%HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS: $830k → 16%SOMERVILLE HOMELESS COALITION INC: $20k → 8%HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS: $630k → 16%SOMERVILLE HOMELESS COALITION INC: $19k → 8%HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS: $90k → 16%SOMERVILLE HOMELESS COALITION INC: $13k → 8%HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS: $75k → 16%HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS: $25k → 16%HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS: $20k → 16%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

100%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$8.0M · 8 repeat orgs$30k to everyone else

8 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
1

Total granted

$8.0M
$5k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+126%
+261%

Still filing today

100%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $25k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Housing & ShelterHuman ServicesCrime & LegalYouth DevelopmentHealthPhilanthropyOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • THE HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS INC
    7× · 2019–2025 · $2.7M · revenue +126%
  • JUSTICE RESOURCE INSTITUTE INC
    7× · 2019–2025 · $1.0M · revenue +44%
  • WH
    WSK HOUSE INC
    2× · 2017–2025 · $597k · revenue +321%

Funded once

  • HH
    HEADING HOME INCgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $5k · revenue +261%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Bridge Over Troubled Waters Inc

Bridge over troubled waters provides effective and innovative services to homeless, at-risk, and runaway youth, helps youth avoid a lifetime of dependency on social services, guides youth towards self-sufficiency, and enables youth to…

Health
2
Sojourner House Inc

Sojourner house is a shelter of hope for families;providing a circle of support and empowering them towards independence.

Housing & Shelter
3
Brookview House Inc

Brookview's mission is to help homeless and at risk families learn the skills necessary to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty.

Human Services
4
Transition House Inc

Transition house is a human services agency dedicated to preventing and ending domestic violence. the agency provides a continuum of housing resources and holistic support for survivors of violence and their children, as well as prevention…

—
5
Pine Street Inn Housing Ii Inc

Pine street inn housing ii, inc. is a massachusetts not-for-profit corporation, which was organized to provide ten elderly individuals with housing facilities and services at the inn's menino house at geneva avenue in boston,…

Housing & Shelter
6
Journey Home Inc

Journey home's mission is to ensure a home for all. we believe the most powerful way to do this is collectively - by working together with service providers, elected officials, businesses, and local communities to end homelessness in the…

Human Services
7
Bay Cove Human Services Inc

Bay cove human services' mission is to partner with people to overcome challenges and realize personal potential. bay cove pursues this mission by providing individualized and compassionate services to people facing the challenges…

—
8
House of Hope Housing Inc

To promote improved social and economic conditions of families who are or who have recently been homeless; to promote, develop, and manage affordable housing for families and to assist in carrying out the charitable purposes of house of…

Housing & Shelter
9
Lifestream Inc

Lifestream, inc. (the organization") provides community-based services that support individuals in attaining greater independence, promising opportunities, and lives that are meaningful and fulfilling on their own terms.

Health
10
Project Hope Boston Inc

Project hope is a multi service agency that moves families up and out of poverty.project hope works in partnership with women and families in the dorchester and roxbury neighborhoods of boston on their journeys up and out of poverty. we do…

Human Services
11
Rod's House

Rod's house builds authentic connections with young people, supports them in feeling respected and secure in who they are, empowers them to reach their full potential, and positively connects them to the community. rod's house envisions an…

Housing & Shelter
12
Homestart Inc

To end homelessness in greater boston by assisting individuals in obtaining permanent housing and settling into the community, and by developing strategies to address systemic barriers to housing placement.

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is More Than Words Inc; the most unlike its peers is United Way of Massachusetts Bay Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

10 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
10/10
Grantees still filing
7/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS INC: $2,650,001 · Human ServicesTHE HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS INCSOMERVILLE HOMELESS COALITION INC: $217,995 · Human ServicesSOMERVILLE HOMELESS COALITION INCBRUNSON HOUSE INC: $2,767,570 · Housing & ShelterBRUNSON HOUSE INC+1 more: $5,000 · Housing & ShelterJUSTICE RESOURCE INSTITUTE INC: $1,018,561 · Crime & LegalJUSTICE RESOUR…WSK HOUSE INC: $596,596 · HealthY2Y NETWORK INC: $324,999 · Youth DevelopmentMORE THAN WORDS INC: $298,001 · OtherUnited Way Of Massachusetts Bay Inc: $84,465 · PhilanthropyBEAT THE ODDS INC: $25,000 · Arts & Culture
Human Services$2,867,996Housing & Shelter$2,772,570Crime & Legal$1,018,561Health$596,596Youth Development$324,999Other$298,001Philanthropy$84,465Arts & Culture$25,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetBRUNSON HOUSE INC: $2,767,570 over 3y, 99% of budgetTHE HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS INC: $2,650,001 over 7y, 0.9% of budgetJUSTICE RESOURCE INSTITUTE INC: $1,018,561 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetWSK HOUSE INC: $596,596 over 2y, 22% of budgetY2Y NETWORK INC: $324,999 over 7y, 7.9% of budgetMORE THAN WORDS INC: $298,001 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetSOMERVILLE HOMELESS COALITION INC: $217,995 over 7y, 0.6% of budgetUnited Way Of Massachusetts Bay Inc: $84,465 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBEAT THE ODDS INC: $25,000 over 1y, 4.4% of budgetHEADING HOME INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds BRUNSON HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS INC ↗
  • Who funds JUSTICE RESOURCE INSTITUTE INC ↗
  • Who funds WSK HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds Y2Y NETWORK INC ↗
  • Who funds MORE THAN WORDS INC ↗
  • Who funds SOMERVILLE HOMELESS COALITION INC ↗
  • Who funds United Way Of Massachusetts Bay Inc ↗
  • Who funds BEAT THE ODDS INC ↗
  • Who funds HEADING HOME INC ↗

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Bridge Over Troubled Waters Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Bridge Over Troubled Waters Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →median 34%
  • Justice Resource Institute Inc: 50% of income from government
  • Heading Home Inc: 35% of income from government
  • The Home for Little Wanderers Inc: 34% of income from government
  • Somerville Homeless Coalition Inc: 31% of income from government
  • United Way of Massachusetts Bay Inc: 23% of income from government
  • More Than Words Inc: 18% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 10 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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