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Illinois · Nonprofit

Mercy Communities Inc

Mercy Communities Inc (Illinois) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,133,328 to it, the largest being UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS INC ($651,921). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$1.3M
Funders on record
16
Grants received
$1.1M
Net assets
$1.3M
10/16 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 19%
01What it does

What Mercy Communities Inc does

Mission

The mission of m.e.r.c.y. Communities, inc. (mentors, empowerment and resources for change in young families) is to provide housing and supportive services to foster the independence of homeless and at risk families.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Transitional housing provides families with dignified housing and teaches them the life skills necessary to become self sufficient. We provide intensive and holistic services and collaborate with community resources, with the ultimate goal of securing permanent housing when the families are ready, and providing them with ongoing aftercare services.

    $281,431 spent
    27% of program spending
  2. Permanent housing provides families with disabilities access to affordable housing and supportive services. This program allows families that may not otherwise be capable, to keep their families together and live independently.

    $622,295 spent$46,173 earned by the program
    61% of program spending
  3. Manage Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) database operations on behalf of the Heartland Continuum of Care (HCoC) and perform other HMIS lead agency functions at the direction of HCoC.

    $123,346 spent$102,802 earned by the program
    12% of program spending

The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,027,072.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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.

100 = 20182018 Revenue 100 ($663k) Expenses 100 ($696k) Net assets 100 ($492k)2019 Revenue 129 ($857k) Expenses 100 ($694k) Net assets 133 ($655k)2020 Revenue 105 ($697k) Expenses 105 ($729k) Net assets 127 ($623k)2021 Revenue 124 ($821k) Expenses 102 ($713k) Net assets 149 ($736k)2022 Revenue 137 ($909k) Expenses 115 ($799k) Net assets 171 ($843k)2023 Revenue 156 ($1.0M) Expenses 129 ($900k) Net assets 199 ($978k)2024 Revenue 177 ($1.2M) Expenses 147 ($1.0M) Net assets 231 ($1.1M)2025 Revenue 192 ($1.3M) Expenses 155 ($1.1M) Net assets 269 ($1.3M)
'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (192)Expenses (155)Net assets (269)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2024 to 2025, from $1.2M to $1.5M (+31%).

$508k
$675k
$714k
$770k
$872k
$1.0M
$1.2M
$1.5M
'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2018 53% · 2019 50% · 2020 66% · 2021 63% · 2022 59% · 2023 59% · 2024 61% · 2025 55%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

86% of Mercy Communities Inc’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (39% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 4,214 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

−$34k
’18
$163k
’19
−$32k
’20
$107k
’21
$109k
’22
$132k
’23
$152k
’24
$187k
’25
12
months of
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

Amy Volis

Executive Director

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed1819191919191817
Joined·+2+0+3+1+0+1+4
No longer listed·1031025
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 7 funders, grant income fell $170k → $146k.

2 of 16 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 1% 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 Mercy Communities Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 15 of 16 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

Mercy Communities Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 58% of grant income and the top three 86%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

70% 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 Mercy Communities Inc.

58%
largest funder
86%
top three
~3
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 86% · 2018 57% · 2019 59% · 2020 61% · 2021 31% · 2022 37% · 2023 55% — 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

50% of Mercy Communities Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 63% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

98% of Mercy Communities Inc's grant income comes from Illinois funders.

MN
IL
NY
MO
VA

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Illinois out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $10k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

Mercy Communities Inc holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 2,196 housing & shelter nonprofits its size.

Operating margin15% · above the median
Months of reserve12.3mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)10% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,196 housing & shelter nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025

Government funding Mercy Communities Inc receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.8M on record.

Federal$1.8M
grants $1.8Mcontracts $0
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Top agencies
  • Department of Housing and Urban Development$1.8M

Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.

Organizations like Mercy Communities Inc

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 Illinois

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

95% of spending goes to programs.

Program 95%Management 5%Fundraising 0%

Governance

16
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

93%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Mercy Communities Inc: 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.

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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 Mercy Communities Inc?
Mercy Communities Inc (Illinois) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,133,328 to it, the largest being UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS INC ($651,921). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does Mercy Communities Inc have?
IRS filings report 16 organizations giving $1,133,328 in grants to Mercy Communities Inc, 10 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of Mercy Communities Inc?
UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS INC is the largest funder on record, with $651,921 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like Mercy Communities Inc find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

Play a game about who funds Mercy Communities →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2018–2025), and the filings of 16 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing