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CHARITY REVIEW
Issued: September 2025 Expires: September 2027

Stewpot Community Services

Standards Not Met
Standards Not Met
6 7 14
(601) 353-2759
1100 West Capitol Street
Jackson, MS, 39203
http://stewpot.org/
📄 Full Report 🖨️ Print 📋 BBB Charity Standards

Standards For Charity Accountability

Governance

  1. Board Oversight
  2. Board Size
  3. Board Meetings
  4. Board Compensation
  5. Conflict of Interest

Measuring Effectiveness

  1. Effectiveness Policy
  2. Effectiveness Report

Finances

  1. Program Expenses
  2. Fundraising Expenses
  3. Accumulating Funds
  4. Audit Report
  5. Detailed Expense Breakdown
  6. Accurate Expense Reporting
  7. Budget Plan

Fundraising & Info

  1. Truthful Materials
  2. Annual Report
  3. Website Disclosures
  4. Donor Privacy
  5. Cause Marketing Disclosures
  6. Complaints

Stewpot Community Services does not meet the following 3 Standards for Charity Accountability:

Standard 6 (Board Policy on Effectiveness)
Have a board policy of assessing, no less than every two years, the organization's performance and effectiveness and of determining future actions required to achieve its mission.

SCS does not meet this Standard because:

  • The board of directors does not have a written policy stating that, at least every two years, an appraisal be done assessing the organization’s performance and effectiveness and determining future actions required to achieve its mission.

Standard 7 (Board Approval of Written Report on Effectiveness)
Submit to the organization's governing body, for its approval, a written report that outlines the results of the aforementioned performance and effectiveness assessment and recommendations for future actions.

SCS does not meet this Standard because:

  • The organization has not completed an effectiveness assessment in the last two years.

Standard 14 (Budget)
Have a board-approved annual budget for its current fiscal year, outlining projected expenses for major program activities, fund raising, and administration.

SCS does not meet this Standard because, when the organization provided 2025 budget information, it indicated that the budget:

  • Did not identify total projected program service expenses and did not break down expenses by major program (food and clothing, shelter and housing assistance, kids and teens, other programs).
  • Did not identify total projected fundraising expenses.
  • Did not identify total projected administrative expenses.

Stewpot Community Services meets the remaining 17 Standards for Charity Accountability.

Stated Purpose:
"to provide meals, shelter, and other services to people experiencing homelessness and poverty."

Year, State Incorporated:
1981, MS

Stewpot Community Services (SCS) reports that it offers free food, shelter, clothing, and mentoring to Jackson, MS residents in need of physical and spiritual nourishment. SCS’s services include the Community Kitchen, food pantry, clothing closet, legal clinic, housing assistance and shelters, after-school and summer camp programs for youth, Sister Trinita Community Health Clinic, a chapel, and the HeARTworks art program. The organization’s shelters include Billy Brumfield Men’s Shelter, for men 18 years and older, and Matt’s House Emergency Shelter, for women and children. The men’s shelter also offers transitional housing, a sober-living program, and a short-term medical recovery program. SCS’s Opportunity Center is a day shelter that provides laundry, mail services, and computer access, and serves as an emergency shelter during the winter months. The organization’s after-school program provides homework assistance, specialized tutoring, field trips, college prep, and life skills education. SCS's HeARTworks program allows artists to teach a new technique, lead a craft project, and showcase their work. In 2024, the organization reported it served 59,526 meals in the Community Kitchen and provided a safe place to sleep to 1,032 individuals.

For the year ended December 31, 2023, Stewpot Community Services's program expenses were:

Food and clothing $720,393
Shelter and housing assistance $1,494,715
Kids and teens $278,080
Other programs $722,392
Total Program Expenses $3,215,580

Chief Executive
Reverend Jill Buckley, Executive Director

Compensation*
$79,903

Chair of the Board
Gina Halfacre

Chair's Profession / Business Affiliation
Owner, Medical Office Outsourcing

Board Size
21

Paid Staff Size
51

*2023 compensation includes annual salary and, if applicable, benefit plans, expense accounts, and other allowances.

Method(s) Used:
Direct mail appeals, Grant proposals, Internet, Direct mail appeals

Fundraising costs were 2% of related contributions. (Related contributions, which totaled $4,180,185, are donations received as a result of fundraising activities.)

This organization is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It is eligible to receive contributions deductible as charitable donations for federal income tax purposes.

The following information is based on Stewpot Community Services's audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Source of Funds
Interest income $33,566
Investment income, net $128,306
Special events and other $180,493
In-kind contributions $206,452
Congregation contributions $227,476
Business and individual contributions $3,565,764
Total Income $4,342,057

Programs: 88% Fundraising: 2% Administrative: 9%

Total Income $4,342,057
Total expenses: $3,637,365
  Program expenses $3,215,580
  Fundraising expenses $78,473
  Administrative expenses $343,312
  Other expenses $0
Income in Excess of Expenses $704,692
Beginning Net Assets $5,001,273
Other Changes In Net Assets $0
Ending Net Assets $5,705,965
Total Liabilities $227,740
Total Assets $5,933,705

Note: According to the organization's 2023 audited financial statements, SCS received in-kind contributions totaling $206,452 in the form of food ($181,152), accounting services ($14,800), and legal aid services ($10,500).

An organization may change its practices at any time without notice. A copy of this report has been shared with the organization prior to publication. It is not intended to recommend or deprecate, and is furnished solely to assist you in exercising your own judgment. If the report is about a charity and states the charity meets or does not meet the Standards for Charity Accountability, it reflects the results of an evaluation of information and materials provided voluntarily by the charity. The name Better Business Bureau is a registered service mark of the International Association of Better Business Bureaus.

This report is not to be used for fundraising or promotional purposes.

RELATED CONTENT

Report completed by:
BBB Wise Giving Alliance