Impact & accountability
The numbers, and the parts numbers cannot hold.
We publish what worked, what did not, and where every dollar landed. If you fund this work you are entitled to see all of it — including the awkward bits.
older neighbours served
hours of companionship
meals hand-delivered
rides to appointments
grab bars installed
letters read aloud
Programme year 1 July 2025 – 30 June 2026. Figures verified against service logs and audited financial statements.
How we measure
Hours are an input. We care about what changed.
Twice a year, an independent evaluator surveys every participant using the UCLA Loneliness Scale and a plain-language questionnaire we wrote with our participant board members. Response rate last year was 81 per cent.
We report the results whether they flatter us or not.
say they feel less lonely than a year ago
report fewer missed medical appointments
say they now have someone to call in an emergency
of caregivers report lower strain after six months
What did not work
Three things we got wrong last year.
Our Macomb County waiting list grew to five weeks. We opened there before we had recruited enough visitors. Sixty-one people waited longer than we told them they would. We have paused new Macomb referrals for visits — but not for meals, rides or calls — until recruitment catches up.
The Saturday meal bag went unopened in 14 per cent of homes. Participants told us, eventually, that they did not like the food. We rewrote the menu with them and re-tested it in March; refusals are now under 4 per cent.
We lost 38 volunteers to burnout in the winter. Almost all had been assigned three or more matches. We now cap new volunteers at one match for their first six months, even when that means slower growth.
In their words
The part the spreadsheet misses.
My husband passed in the winter and I did not speak out loud for four days. Now Marcus comes Thursdays. I bake on Wednesdays so there is something for him. That is two days a week I have a reason.
I had missed four dialysis sessions before they started driving me. Four. The nurse said one more and I would have been in the hospital. Now Ray picks me up at six and we argue about the Pistons the whole way.
Four years I looked after my mother by myself. The first time a respite volunteer came I sat in my car in a parking lot for three hours and cried, and then I went to the cinema. That was the beginning of me lasting.
Shared with written permission. First names used at participants' request.
Where we work
Thirty-one neighbourhoods across three counties.
We grow one neighbourhood at a time, and only when we can promise the new street the same reliability as the first one.
Wayne County
1,012 participants · 402 volunteers
East English Village, Jefferson Chalmers, Boston-Edison, Bagley, Brightmoor, Springwells, Hamtramck, Highland Park, Dearborn, Redford, Livonia, Westland.
Oakland County
296 participants · 148 volunteers
Pontiac, Southfield, Oak Park, Ferndale, Royal Oak, Madison Heights, Farmington, Waterford.
Macomb County
172 participants · 70 volunteers
Warren, Roseville, Eastpointe, Sterling Heights, Clinton Township, Mount Clemens. Visitor recruitment is our priority here.
Financial transparency
Show the books.
Fiscal year ending 30 June 2026, as reported in our audited statements. We publish this in full every year, unprompted.
Where the money came from
| Source | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Individual donors | $842,000 | 43% |
| Foundations & grants | $610,000 | 31% |
| Corporate & workplace giving | $198,000 | 10% |
| Faith congregations | $124,000 | 6% |
| Events | $96,000 | 5% |
| In-kind goods & services | $88,000 | 5% |
| Total revenue | $1,958,000 | 100% |
Where it went
| Category | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Meals & Groceries | $612,000 | 33% |
| Friendly Visits & Warm Line | $498,000 | 27% |
| Rides & Errands | $284,000 | 15% |
| Home Safety Squad | $186,000 | 10% |
| Tech, Letters & Caregiver Circle | $132,000 | 7% |
| Administration | $93,000 | 5% |
| Fundraising | $56,000 | 3% |
| Total expenses | $1,861,000 | 100% |
of spending goes to programmes
average cost to serve one person for a year
operating reserve held
government contracts — deliberately
Documents on request
Email us and we will send any of these the same working day, no questions asked.
Accountability
How we keep ourselves honest.
Independent audit
Annual audit by an outside CPA firm, with the finance committee meeting the auditors without staff in the room.
Participants on the board
Two voting seats are permanently held by people who receive our services. They have vetoed two expansions.
Safeguarding review
Every volunteer is re-screened every two years. Every concern raised is logged, investigated and reported to the board.
Say something
A confidential line for participants, families and volunteers to raise anything at all: concerns@lovetheelderly.com.