Mercy Home for Children

"An accurate picture of where we are financially…."

Founded in 1862 as a ministry of the Sisters of Mercy, Mercy Home for Children provides essential services for children and adults in New York City with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Mercy Home’s mission is to ensure quality of life through the recognition of each person’s inherent dignity and right to a life filled with learning and love. This mission is fulfilled in practice through the core values of respect, trust, teamwork, care, and compassion, and through such services as creative art therapy, planting urban gardens, yoga, and musical performances. Mercy Home hosts and manages 13 residential facilities throughout the metro New York area, coordinates with Medicaid services, offers day services, and provides respite services for family caregivers.

Executive Director Janice Aris freely admits that as a social worker she’s not a “finance person.” She can prepare a budget and understand a balance sheet but when Mercy Home was transitioning after losing its staff controller she knew she needed outside assistance. A retired accountant who serves on her Board of Directors suggested contacting Your Part-Time Controller.

“We met with them and outlined our needs and concerns. They conducted an assessment and confirmed what we had suspected and offered some recommendations,” she says. Since April 2017, Associate Nathan Musgrove has been providing controller services three days a week, augmenting her small financial staff of three.

“It’s been very beneficial. Nathan has streamlined some of our systems. I now have access to information that I didn’t have previously, and that allows me to make decisions. Nathan brings knowledge and transparency which has helped us get an accurate picture of where we are financially. That now allows me to sleep at night. That’s a big deal for me!”

Aris is impressed with how quickly Musgrove mastered the learning curve about Mercy Home’s financial systems, mission, and dealings with state and federal government agencies. “He’s learned about our industry at a remarkable speed,” she says.

She also admires how easy it is to work with YPTC personnel. “Nathan can interact with anyone and we have a sense of comfort with him. He participates in our board meetings and paints an accurate picture for us. Having him has been very, very nice.

“It was really easy having Your Part-Time Controller come in during our transition,” she adds. “We didn’t miss a beat.”