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CHARITY REVIEW
Issued: October 2025 Expires: October 2027

The Beacon

Accredited Charity
Accredited Charity

Meets Standards
(713) 220-9737
1212 Prairie St
Houston, TX, 77002
https://www.beaconhomeless.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

The Beacon meets the 20 Standards for Charity Accountability.

Stated Purpose:
The mission of The Beacon is to provide essential and next-step services to restore hope and help end homelessness in Houston.

Year, State Incorporated:
2002, TX

Also Known As:
The Beacon of Downtown Houston

The Beacon and its Programs

The Beacon Day Center is the gateway for all services at The Beacon. Operating five days a week, the Day Center provides a hot meal, as well as access to showers and full-service laundry facilities to an average of 300 people each day.  Building trust is key and pastoral counseling at The Beacon Day Center serves as the bridge between the harsh realities of life on the streets to comforting solutions that provide respite and hope.  There are regularly scheduled Bible study groups for the clients along with writing workshops, art classes and yoga sessions.

In 2014, The Beacon aligned with the Coalition for the Homeless-Houston/Harris County Continuum of Care initiative known as The Way Home.  The goal of the The Way Home is to change the path for Houstons homeless by creating permanent supportive housing units and implementing a coordinated intake, assessment and triage system for those in need. 

The Beacon Day Center now serves as a first stop for permanent supportive housing options for chronically homeless individuals.  Utilizing specially trained housing assessors who use a web-based system to match these individuals to permanent housing with appropriate supportive services, more than ,300 people have been assessed for housing in the Coordinated Access area of The Beacon via The Way Home initiative and more than 880 now have a place to call home.  In addition to serving as the hub for housing assessments, The Beacon offers additional next-step services that make up its core programming.

Beacon Law provides civil legal aid services specifically for low-income and homeless individuals, championing equal justice and removing barriers to escaping homelessness. Beacon Law attorneys are accessed by way of The Beacon Day Center and help with access to safe and affordable housing, income and employment, healthcare benefits and consumer rights. 

Last year, Beacon Law attorneys helped to stabilize the economic status for over 1,700 unique individuals who accessed The Beacon for highly effective and courteous pro bono legal services.  More than 2,700 cases were settled.

Brigids Hope is a twelve-month intensive residential program for homeless, non–violent females recently released from prison. It is unique in that it offers each woman a mentor, independent living and minimal structure to develop self-sufficiency, along with case management, life skills, career training and supportive services that give women the tools they need to begin a fresh start and live safe, productive lives in an effort to reduce the number of women returning to the criminal justice system.  More than 220 women have completed this program since its inception with a recidivism rate of less than 10%.

For the year ended December 31, 2024, The Beacon's program expenses were:

Essential Services $2,162,800
Housing Services $1,829,817
Legal Services $932,583
Total Program Expenses $4,925,200

Chief Executive
Becky Landes, Chief Executive Officer

Chair of the Board
Bess Wareing

Chair's Profession / Business Affiliation
Self

Board Size
19

Method(s) Used:
Direct mail appeals, Print advertisements (newspapers, magazines, etc.), Grant proposals, Cause-related marketing (affinity credit cards, consumer product sales, etc.)

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 The Beacon's audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2024.

Source of Funds
Contributions- Cash and other financial assets $2,194,819
Grants: Cash and other financial assets $1,863,792
Fundraising event revenue: Cash and other financial assets $687,795
Support from related parties: Nonfinancial assets $572,000
Interest income $64,088
Fundraising event revenue: Nonfinancial assets $25,819
Support from related parties: Cash and other financial assets $25,300
Other revenue $17,741
Proceeds - contributed auction items $17,450
Contributions- Nonfinancial assets $15,183
Cost of donor benefits provided $-41,002
Total Income $5,442,985

Programs: 84% Fundraising: 6% Administrative: 9%

Total Income $5,442,985
Total expenses: $5,848,366
  Program expenses $4,925,200
  Fundraising expenses $371,189
  Administrative expenses $551,977
  Other expenses $0
Income in Excess of Expenses $-405,381
Beginning Net Assets $3,461,083
Other Changes In Net Assets $0
Ending Net Assets $3,055,702
Total Liabilities $269,727
Total Assets $3,325,429

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.

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Report completed by:
BBB of Greater Houston and South Texas