Massachusetts · Nonprofit
MERYLS SAFE HAVEN INC
MERYLS SAFE HAVEN INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $866,786 to it, the largest being United Way Of Massachusetts Bay Inc ($550,340). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.4M
- Funders on record
- 10
- Grants received
- $867k
- Net assets
- $141k
What Meryls Safe Haven Inc does
Mission
Meryl's safe haven, inc. (msh) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing and connecting families and young people who have aged out of the foster care system with shelter and resources in our community and beyond. We focus on the whole person for holistic support to address the underlying issues. Msh aims to be an impetus for change that recognizes humanity and the importance of community through support in providing financial budgeting and management, identifying childcare and mental health resources, education, and workforce development opportunities, while meeting the basic needs of food, safety, and shelter. Our mission is to level the field of opportunity for those who enter our doors.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2025 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
Meryl's safe haven (msh) completed its safety net program in may of 2025 at the conclusion of the contracted project period. The safety net program was always intended to be a short-term initiative that spanned the state that the organization was asked to undertake to address an immediate community need. Upon completion of the project and fulfillment of all contractual obligations, the program formally concluded in 2025. As a result, msh discontinued operations at one of its three locations in the city of worcester that had been dedicated to this temporary program. The organization continues to operate its remaining programs and sites in alignment with its mission and ongoing service commitments.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
On january 26, 2024, meryl's safe haven opened its doors to families in crisis through the safety net shelter program, providing emergency accommodations in partnership with local organizations including united way of massachusetts bay, seven hills foundation, united way of central massachusetts, and catholic charities worcester county. This rapid response partnership demonstrated msh's capacity to address urgent, unmet needs in our community. From january 26, 2024, to may 23, 2025, this initiative supported 137 people, including 34 families; 28 children age five and under; 47 children ages 6-18; and 62 adults as heads of household. After staying with safety net, 24 families transitioned to other emergency assistance (ea) shelter placements; nine exited to non-ea placements; and one transferred to another safety net facility. The program was honored by worcester city council during national public health week. This program closed out 06/01/2025. Please use the area below to provide any additional information you think we may need or questions you would like to discuss.
$154,126 spent12% of program spendingIn partnership with the executive office of housing and livable communities, msh provides emergency housing assistance for families in crisis. This program is available by referral only through the state's emergency assistance system. Our congregate and scattered site locations opened on april 9, 2024. Since launch, meryl's safe haven has supported 82 individuals: in 2025, in our family shelters, we served 20 children between the ages of 0-5, we served nine children between the ages of 6-18, one child between the ages of 19-21, and 24 adults.
$651,540 spent49% of program spendingOn october 31, 2024, msh hosted a ribbon cutting for our tyep program. January 2025, msh began integrating mentoring, emergency housing, and transitional support for youth ages 18-24 transitioning out of foster care in search of shelter and resources. 16 families moved into permanent housing. We have served 19 young adults in our transitional youth empowerment program; two started college in 2025, one graduated from high school, and two transitioned out of the program into their own permanent housing. Outside of milestones I.e. Another year in service to the community and celebrating our annual fundraiser, march 10, 2025, we placed our first young adult at the transitional youth empowerment program and facilitated our first workforce development program: serving success, which provided credentials to individuals who had previous and currently live in shelter.
$525,811 spent39% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,331,477.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2024, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2024, 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 2024 to 2025, from $1.2M to $729k (−41%).
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: 2024 55% · 2025 94%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
101% of MERYLS SAFE HAVEN INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (39% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 2 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
Tasia Cerezo
President & CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
Grant support over time, funder by funder — shade shows the grant size each year.
3 of 10 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 9% 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 MERYLS SAFE HAVEN INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
MERYLS SAFE HAVEN INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 63% of grant income and the top three 83%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
92% 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 MERYLS SAFE HAVEN INC.
“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.
Where its funders are
100% of MERYLS SAFE HAVEN INC's grant income comes from Massachusetts funders.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $79k 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.
Against its field
MERYLS SAFE HAVEN INC receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $867k to it.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,196 housing & shelter nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding MERYLS SAFE HAVEN INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $10k on record.
- (MM) PURCHASED CLIENT/PROGRAM SVCS$10k
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 MERYLS SAFE HAVEN 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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for MERYLS SAFE HAVEN 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.
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 MERYLS SAFE HAVEN INC?
- MERYLS SAFE HAVEN INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $866,786 to it, the largest being United Way Of Massachusetts Bay Inc ($550,340). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does MERYLS SAFE HAVEN INC have?
- IRS filings report 10 organizations giving $866,786 in grants to MERYLS SAFE HAVEN INC, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MERYLS SAFE HAVEN INC?
- United Way Of Massachusetts Bay Inc is the largest funder on record, with $550,340 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MERYLS SAFE HAVEN INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 Meryls Safe Haven →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2024–2025), and the filings of 10 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