Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
HOMELESS CHILDREN'S EDUCATION FUND
HOMELESS CHILDREN'S EDUCATION FUND (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 79 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,481,846 to it, the largest being THE PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION ($690,873). 47 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.6M
- Funders on record
- 79
- Grants received
- $4.5M
- Net assets
- $2.7M
What Homeless Children's Education Fund does
Mission
To advance the education of children and youth experiencing homelessness in allegheny county by providing educational programs and services; serving as a trusted advocate; sharing expertise; facilitating collaborative relationships that maximize the collective impact among community partners [homeless education network(hen)].
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Mobile learninghcef works with partners including 27 housing agencies and public schools in allegheny county to create hope through learning for homeless children and youth. Our programs reach children from pre-school through young adulthood. In 2024, all programs continued to support students in person and virtually. Hcef continued to expand the mobile learning program which aims to bring tutoring services to meet families where they are. The mobile learning program meets the unique needs of students experiencing housing instability. Students experiencing homelessness learn and grow with high quality, mobile tutors that visit students where they are in the community. Instructors and volunteers travel to bring tutoring to students' homes, libraries, parks, or other locations convenient for families. During the sessions, tutors bring academic activities, books, and supplies during their visits. The program was piloted in the summer of 2021 and has continued to grow.
$257,327 spent18% of program spendingWorkforce developmentprovides hands-on experience through paid summer internships, workforce readiness skills, and essential support. Participants receive a livable wage for their time in class and at their placement site, along with assistance for transportation and professional attire.
$204,303 spent$28,326 earned by the program15% of program spendingHomeless shelter learning centers are built just for kids and equipped with technology and resources for educational support. These centers are equipped with books, games and educational toys in addition to posters and prompts that foster emotional and social development. We equip and refresh these spaces, as needed, to keep them at peak quality for our youth. Building blocks for success afterschool and summer programming is delivered to children living in homeless shelters and temporary residences. With our instructors, literacy specialist and intern teams, we forge relationships with youth and their parents that enable trust and learning. A quality instructor at each site is assisted by a literacy specialist (who shares time between all sites) and 2-3 college interns and volunteers. Hcef conducted group zoom sessions and got to know each family individually (the youth and their parents) during the pandemic. We focus on outcomes in three areas: learning strategies and engagement, developmental relationships and social and emotional learning. Enrichment programs bring creative, hands-on steam (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) experiences to enhance learning. The…
$182,396 spent$21,109 earned by the program13% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$748,450 spentof which $68,280 as grants54% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,392,476.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $2.7M to $3.2M (+21%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
86% of HOMELESS CHILDREN'S EDUCATION FUND’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (82% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Ardana Jefferson
Chief executive officer
Board chair
Jo Clark
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 12 funders to 38 funders, grant income rose $208k → $658k.
10 of 79 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 40% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of HOMELESS CHILDREN'S EDUCATION FUND’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 79 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
HOMELESS CHILDREN'S EDUCATION FUND has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 15% of grant income, and it takes 7 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 7 funders to its left
48% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund HOMELESS CHILDREN'S EDUCATION FUND.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 29% · 2018 30% · 2019 29% · 2020 16% · 2021 33% · 2022 19% · 2023 12% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
57% of HOMELESS CHILDREN'S EDUCATION FUND's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 59% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
91% of HOMELESS CHILDREN'S EDUCATION FUND's grant income comes from Pennsylvania funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
HOMELESS CHILDREN'S EDUCATION FUND has grown faster than half of the 2,910 philanthropy nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,910 philanthropy nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like HOMELESS CHILDREN'S EDUCATION FUND
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Pennsylvania
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
65% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
89%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for HOMELESS CHILDREN'S EDUCATION FUND: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds HOMELESS CHILDREN'S EDUCATION FUND?
- HOMELESS CHILDREN'S EDUCATION FUND (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 79 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,481,846 to it, the largest being THE PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION ($690,873). 47 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does HOMELESS CHILDREN'S EDUCATION FUND have?
- IRS filings report 79 organizations giving $4,481,846 in grants to HOMELESS CHILDREN'S EDUCATION FUND, 47 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of HOMELESS CHILDREN'S EDUCATION FUND?
- THE PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $690,873 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like HOMELESS CHILDREN'S EDUCATION FUND find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Pennsylvania. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 79 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing