Form 990 for tax year 2024

Filed by WAYFINDER FAMILY SERVICES.

This return was superseded by a later amendment. matched by us It is kept because history is preserved rather than replaced.

What the amendment changed

Compared with the latest return for 2024 , filed 1 June 2026. matched by us Only the Part I totals and the names listed in Part VII are compared. We relate returns by organization, tax year and form, and order them by each return's own timestamp; the filer's own "amended return" checkbox is a separate fact.

Both are the same on the two returns, so the amendment changed something else.

Totals

Total revenue: $46,687,538
Total expenses: $48,260,256
Contributions and grants received: $44,357,713
Grants paid: $1,918,533
Program service revenue: $0
Investment income: $1,983,408
Other revenue: $346,417
Total assets, end of year: $66,853,479
Total liabilities, end of year: $10,818,895
Net assets or fund balances, end of year: $56,034,584
Program services expenses (Part IX): $40,747,517
Management and general expenses: $5,378,421
Fundraising expenses: $2,134,318
Program service expenses (Part III): $40,747,517

Program services were 84.4% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Revenue

Part VIII, the statement of revenue.

1e · Government grants (contributions)

$38,696,590
1f · All other contributions, gifts and grants

$5,661,123
1g · Noncash contributions included above

$169,324
3 · Investment income

total $1,236,576 · excluded $1,236,576
7a · Gross sales of assets other than inventory

securities $3,803,309 · other assets $58,335
7b · Less cost or other basis and sales expenses

securities $3,114,812 · other assets $0
7c · Gain or loss

securities $688,497 · other assets $58,335
7d · Net gain or loss

total $746,832 · excluded $746,832
11a · Other revenue: Miscellaneous income

total $215,751 · excluded $215,751
11b · Other revenue: Cell Tower income

total $130,666 · excluded $130,666
11e · Other revenue, total

$346,417

Functional expenses

Part IX, the statement of functional expenses.

2 · Grants to domestic individuals

total $1,918,533 · program services $1,918,533
5 · Compensation of officers, directors and key employees

total $443,128 · management and general $443,128
6 · Compensation of disqualified persons

total $224,214 · program services $173,653 · management and general $39,870 · fundraising $10,691
7 · Other salaries and wages

total $25,834,849 · program services $22,433,919 · management and general $2,394,595 · fundraising $1,006,335
8 · Pension plan contributions

total $498,402 · program services $455,558 · management and general $20,753 · fundraising $22,091
9 · Other employee benefits

total $3,620,780 · program services $3,081,967 · management and general $389,363 · fundraising $149,450
10 · Payroll taxes

total $1,923,472 · program services $1,674,357 · management and general $181,747 · fundraising $67,368
11b · Fees: legal

total $1,093,486 · program services $846,901 · management and general $194,444 · fundraising $52,141
11c · Fees: accounting

total $70,000 · management and general $70,000
11d · Fees: lobbying

total $25,000 · program services $25,000
11f · Fees: investment management

total $121,997 · management and general $121,997
11g · Fees: other

total $1,694,375 · program services $1,468,780 · management and general $133,625 · fundraising $91,970
12 · Advertising and promotion

total $449,433 · program services $162,446 · management and general $29,237 · fundraising $257,750
13 · Office expenses

total $2,864,880 · program services $2,390,121 · management and general $258,343 · fundraising $216,416
16 · Occupancy

total $2,244,880 · program services $1,943,564 · management and general $239,506 · fundraising $61,810
17 · Travel

total $650,462 · program services $577,782 · management and general $61,851 · fundraising $10,829
20 · Interest

total $22,538 · management and general $22,538
22 · Depreciation, depletion and amortization

total $997,887 · program services $764,591 · management and general $224,729 · fundraising $8,567
23 · Insurance

total $795,322 · program services $679,801 · management and general $86,243 · fundraising $29,278
24a · Other expenses: Maintenance

total $748,319 · program services $527,464 · management and general $210,371 · fundraising $10,484
24b · Other expenses: Dues & subscriptions

total $595,601 · program services $487,291 · management and general $84,913 · fundraising $23,397
24c · Other expenses: Event expenses

total $380,828 · program services $301,779 · management and general $45 · fundraising $79,004
24d · Other expenses: Bad debt

total $314,135 · program services $314,135
24e · All other expenses

total $727,735 · program services $519,875 · management and general $171,123 · fundraising $36,737

Balance sheet

Part X, book values.

1 · Cash, non-interest-bearing

beginning of year $829,883 · end of year $1,089,173
2 · Savings and temporary cash investments

beginning of year $288,802 · end of year $92,465
3 · Pledges and grants receivable

beginning of year $200,124 · end of year $213,421
4 · Accounts receivable

beginning of year $4,977,296 · end of year $4,822,354
8 · Inventories for sale or use

beginning of year $3,953 · end of year $6,740
9 · Prepaid expenses and deferred charges

beginning of year $514,664 · end of year $415,604
10a · Land, buildings and equipment: cost or other basis

$38,037,069
10b · Land, buildings and equipment: accumulated depreciation

$22,512,770
10c · Land, buildings and equipment, net

beginning of year $14,219,170 · end of year $15,524,299
11 · Investments: publicly traded securities

beginning of year $38,856,619 · end of year $41,027,456
15 · Other assets

beginning of year $3,061,967 · end of year $3,661,967
17 · Accounts payable and accrued expenses

beginning of year $7,007,423 · end of year $8,906,915
23 · Secured mortgages and notes payable

beginning of year $0 · end of year $200,000
25 · Other liabilities

beginning of year $1,414,326 · end of year $1,711,980
27 · Net assets without donor restrictions

beginning of year $53,914,332 · end of year $55,514,510
28 · Net assets with donor restrictions

beginning of year $616,397 · end of year $520,074

Mission and programs · 2024

Mission

The mission of Wayfinder Family Services is to ensure that children, youth and adults facing challenges always have a place to turn. Founded in 1953 as the Foundation for the Junior Blind, the organization initially enabled visually impaired children to lead fuller and more independent lives. In response to community needs, Wayfinder expanded programs for children, youth and adults with vision loss or profound special needs and serious medical conditions; children and infants who have experienced loss and trauma; foster youth in search of homes and opportunity; and adoptive families. We offer all services at no cost to our clients, most of whom are low-income people of color.

Activities or mission (Part I)

Wayfinder's mission is to ensure that children, youth and adults facing challenges always have a place to turn.

Our statewide Foster Care and Adoption programs match children and youth who have been displaced from their homes due to abuse or neglect with families that can provide safe, caring homes. Wayfinder recruits, trains and certifies resource (foster) families, some of whom ultimately adopt the children they foster. We emphasize a child achieving permanency, which can be reunification with birth parents, living with relatives, adoption or guardianship. Also, Wayfinder offers therapeutic post-adoption support that includes case management, mental health therapy and mentoring to children and their adoptive families during and after adoption to promote stability and permanency.

Expenses $15,054,557 · Grants $1,918,533
The Cottage is a 10-day temporary shelter care program on our Los Angeles campus for boys and girls ages 0 through 17 who have been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect. These children need temporary refuge until they can be placed with family members or foster families. Our professional staff stabilize children in crisis so they are ready to transition to a placement. Wayfinder is one of only four agencies selected by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services to provide this service-and the only shelter licensed to care for infants and toddlers. Thus, The Cottage receives all children under age 5 in the county who are removed from their homes due to maltreatment and cannot be immediately placed with a friend or family member.

Expenses $5,844,207
Mental Health offers therapy to children, youth, adults and families in our programs, including traumatized youth in The Cottage and The Haven. Wayfinder remains one of only a handful of organizations in the state that offers mental health services to people with disabilities. Our counselors help clients build skills to cope with vision loss, traumatic experiences, unstable environments, abuse, neglect and more. Wayfinder's community mental health services assist residents in need in Los Angeles, Butte and Placer counties. Our mental health care in the community is focused on preventative services to build resilient individuals and families.

Expenses $6,580,641
Families referred to Family Preservation are at risk of having children removed from their home. Through intensive counseling and other services, parents recognize their triggers and learn how to prevent the behaviors that destabilize their family. As a result of Family Preservation, children avoid out-of-home placement or reentry to foster care and can thrive in their nurturing families. This program launched in July 2024 and reflects Wayfinder's commitment to expanding preventive services that can avert the need for crisis intervention.Our Kinship Support Services Program is a kinship navigation service for grandparents, extended family members or close family friends who step up to raise children so they avoid the trauma of separation from their birth family. The program also assists kinship families that form voluntarily, without the assistance of a child welfare agency. Our program offers counseling, assistance with basic needs, support groups and workshops, respite resources and more. Kinship families are more stable, and children maintain their family connections, which produces better long-term outcomes. Our Family Finding services search exhaustively for relatives or people close to children in foster care so they can establish supportive connections. Family finding specialists contact relatives to see if they are interested in phone calls or visits with children in care. Family may not know how to search for the child or even that the child is in foster care. Our specialists coordinate contacts for children and these relatives to build trust and connections so the youth will have a network of caring adults to rely on when they leave foster care. Promoting Safe and Stable Families provides counseling and support to reduce the recurrence of child maltreatment and re-entry into foster care and to increase families' self-sufficiency and positive parenting. The program serves two groups: families that receive intensive services to prevent them from entering the child welfare system and families that receive longer term support as they reunify with a previously removed child. Child and Family Development provides counseling, parent coaching and parenting skills training to birth, adoptive and kinship families whose children are at risk for out-of-home placement due to behavioral, emotional or mental health issues. The program also serves families who have reunified with a child who was previously removed from the home in order to preserve stability and prevent re-entry into out-of-home care.Parents whose children are in foster care receive Supervised Visitation and Coaching services to strengthen parenting skills, enhance parent-child relationships and sustain family ties. Psychosocial Assessment Program assesses resource families, including adoptive families, by completing resource family evaluations within county timeframes.Child Development Services provides early intervention in person to children from birth to age 6 with visual impairment or multiple disabilities. Young children maximize any vision they have and reduce developmental delays. Parents learn to provide their child with therapeutic stimulation and advocate for their child's education and care. Child development reduces the need for special education and increases independence for children with disabilities. Our Special Education School offers children and youth, ages 5 to 22, who are visually impaired or have moderate-to-severe disabilities a safe, positive environment for learning and growth. In the least restrictive environment in our state-certified, non-public school, teachers develop students' communication, mobility and functional skills to increase their independence. Camp Bloomfield provides children and youth who are blind, visually impaired or multi-disabled with memorable experiences in the outdoors. Our camp program offers activities adapted for children of all ages and abilities that develop self-esteem and build independence. Also, Wayfinder offers sports, recreation and outdoor adventures that are adapted for children and teens with disabilities.In Transition Services, teenagers and young adults ages 16 to 25 from across California who are blind or visually impaired explore careers and successfully transition to independent living, college or the workforce. Participants learn assistive technology, independent living, and orientation and mobility (white cane and safe travel) skills. They participate in college-access activities, develop leadership skills, learn job-seeking skills and increase their independence. The program offers weekend workshops and a four-week, in-person summer program in classrooms and dorms on the Cal State Los Angeles campus. The Davidson Program for Independence on Wayfinder's Los Angeles campus and the Hatlen Center for the Blind in Sacramento in Northern California are comprehensive residential rehabilitation programs for adults ages 18 and older who are blind or visually impaired, many with recent vision loss. Participants learn assistive technology, orientation and mobility, braille, and independent living skills. Each client pursues individualized goals that lead to a confident transition to an independent life and education or employment.Assistive Technology Training provides instruction on the latest assistive technology devices and software for success in today's job market to adults with vision loss, ages 18 and older. Employment Services teaches adults who are blind or visually impaired the skills they need to join or rejoin the workforce. Participants attend training on our L.A. campus, remotely, or in person in their homes. They receive assessments, training and job placement, as well as coaching and instruction in orientation and mobility to find and keep jobs. Clients emerge as competitive candidates in the workforce. Also, Wayfinder helps employers adapt workspaces to increase accessibility. Wayfinder's Older Individuals who are Blind program provides adults ages 55 and older who are visually impaired with training to assist them in living independently. Each client has an individualized service plan that specifies goals and activities. Clients receive one-to-one instruction, small group trainings and virtual visits on our L.A. campus, in clients' homes and at senior centers. For each person, trainings combine the seven service categories that meet their needs: low vision, assistive technology, orientation and mobility, communication, activities of daily living, self-advocacy, or adjustment counseling. As a result, older adults gain independence and self-sufficiency so they can participate more fully in their communities. Our Medical Department provides 24-hour services to residents of our three on-campus residential programs, plus students in our Special Education School. Many have complex, intertwined medical, mental health and behavioral needs, which our medical staff are adept at addressing. Medical department staff are nurses, and we contract with a psychiatrist, nurse practitioner, endocrinologist and behavioral psychologist. Mental Health offers therapy to children, youth, adults and families in our programs, including traumatized youth in The Cottage and The Haven. Wayfinder remains one of only a handful of organizations in the state that offers mental health services to people with disabilities. Our counselors help clients build skills to cope with vision loss, traumatic experiences, unstable environments, abuse, neglect and more. Wayfinder's community mental health services assist residents in need in Los Angeles, Butte and Placer counties. Our mental health care in the community is focused on preventative services to build resilient individuals and families.Be Well focuses on mental wellness and empowerment of youth ages 14-25 who are experiencing mental health disorders or early symptoms of one. The program mitigates mental health and wellness challenges, while supporting healing for vulnerable youth. The goals are to destigmatize mental health challenges and assist youth in strengthening their resiliency.The Haven provides shelter and long-term foster care for unaccompanied children. The program assists children ages 0 to 17 and pregnant or parenting teenagers who enter the country alone and do not have a parent or legal guardian in the U.S. to care for them. The program includes a group home on our L.A. campus housing boys ages 12 to 17, basic foster care in family homes for children ages 0 to 17, and therapeutic foster care in the homes of trained families for children ages 0 to 17 with significant emotional, behavioral, medical or developmental needs. Wayfinder addresses these children's complex, intertwined needs; provides stability; reduces trauma; and locates suitable sponsors.

Expenses $13,268,112

As filed on the 2024 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Listed in Part VII

Glenn A Sonnenberg

Chair of Board

Total calculated

$0

Hours/week

1
Linda Myerson Dean

Vice Chair of Board

Total calculated

$0

Hours/week

1
Scott M Farkas Esq

Secretary

Total calculated

$0

Hours/week

1
Erica Fernandez

Treasurer

Total calculated

$0

Hours/week

1
Elworth AE Williams

Immediate Past Chair

Total calculated

$0

Hours/week

1
Harold A Davidson DBA

Board Member

Total calculated

$0

Hours/week

1
Timothy E Ford Esq

Board Member

Total calculated

$0

Hours/week

1
Robert D Held

Board Member

Total calculated

$0

Hours/week

1
Steve L Hernandez Esq

Board Member

Total calculated

$0

Hours/week

1
Jonathan I Macy MD

Board Member

Total calculated

$0

Hours/week

1
John Nicolaus

Board Member

Total calculated

$0

Hours/week

1
Fernando Villa

Board Member

Total calculated

$0

Hours/week

1
Tara Voss

Board Member

Total calculated

$0

Hours/week

1
Stevie Wonder

Board Member

Total calculated

$0

Hours/week

1
Jay Allen

CEO

Total calculated

$414,302

From this org

$378,302

From related orgs

$0

Other

$36,000

Hours/week

40

Schedule J breakdown matched by us

Base

$353,108

Bonus

$23,295

Other

$1,899

Deferred

$36,000

Nontaxable benefits

$0

Filer's total

$414,302
Blythe Maling

Senior VP & Chief Develop.

Total calculated

$264,951

From this org

$226,035

From related orgs

$0

Other

$38,916

Hours/week

40

Schedule J breakdown matched by us

Base

$218,386

Bonus

$7,649

Other

$0

Deferred

$24,334

Nontaxable benefits

$14,582

Filer's total

$264,951
Carol Ramirez

VP and Chief Program Officer

Total calculated

$188,029

From this org

$180,354

From related orgs

$0

Other

$7,675

Hours/week

40

Schedule J breakdown matched by us

Base

$179,474

Bonus

$880

Other

$0

Deferred

$7,675

Nontaxable benefits

$0

Filer's total

$188,029
Dawn Vo-Jutabha

Chief Operating Officer

Total calculated

$286,282

From this org

$248,771

From related orgs

$0

Other

$37,511

Hours/week

40

Schedule J breakdown matched by us

Base

$234,445

Bonus

$14,326

Other

$0

Deferred

$24,229

Nontaxable benefits

$13,282

Filer's total

$286,282
Fernando Almodovar

Chief Financial Officer

Total calculated

$212,123

From this org

$168,107

From related orgs

$0

Other

$44,016

Hours/week

40

Schedule J breakdown matched by us

Base

$154,085

Bonus

$14,022

Other

$0

Deferred

$29,432

Nontaxable benefits

$14,584

Filer's total

$212,123
Carmen Garcia

Chief People Officer

Total calculated

$228,897

From this org

$193,753

From related orgs

$0

Other

$35,144

Hours/week

40

Schedule J breakdown matched by us

Base

$180,297

Bonus

$13,456

Other

$0

Deferred

$20,987

Nontaxable benefits

$14,157

Filer's total

$228,897
Miki Jordan

Consultant

Total calculated

$206,560

From this org

$206,560

From related orgs

$0

Other

$0

Hours/week

20

Schedule J breakdown matched by us

Base

$206,560

Bonus

$0

Other

$0

Deferred

$0

Nontaxable benefits

$0

Filer's total

$206,560

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us.

Schedule J

Answered yes

3 · Compensation committee
3 · Independent compensation consultant
3 · Written employment contract
3 · Compensation survey or study
3 · Approval by the board or compensation committee
4b · Supplemental nonqualified retirement plan

Answered no

4a · Severance or change-of-control payment
4c · Equity-based compensation arrangement
5a · Pay contingent on this organization's revenues
5b · Pay contingent on a related organization's revenues
6a · Pay contingent on this organization's net earnings
6b · Pay contingent on a related organization's net earnings
7 · Other non-fixed payments
8 · Paid under the initial-contract exception

The filer's explanations (Part III)

Part I, Line 4b: The following participated in a 457(b)Plan: Jay Allen - $23,000 Blythe C. Maling - $13,730 Donna Roberts - $6,543 Carmen Garcia - $11,803 Fernando Almodovar - $14,367 Dawn Vo-Jutabha - $13,461

Part I's answers as filed. A line not listed was left unanswered; on lines 1a and 3 that means the box was not checked.

Grants on this return

No itemized grants to organizations on this return.

Provenance

Return type: form_990
Tax year: 2024
Filed: 10 February 2026
IRS schema version: 2024v5.5
Source object: 202630419349300338

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