2024-11-14T18:23:40-07:00 2023-12-31 990 2023-01-01 911433369 BAINBRIDGE-OMETEPE SISTER ISLANDS ASSOCIATION BAIN 2068426266 PO Box 4484 Rolling Bay WA 98061 Paul Carroll Board Treasurer 2068426266 2024-11-14 1 2023 2024-10-15 13:58:12Z BOSIA Paul Carroll 13706 Ellingsen Rd NE Bainbridge Island WA 98110 209331 0 X bainbridgeometepe.org X 1988 WA We encourage mutual understanding, education, friendship, and cultural exchanges between Bainbridge (US) and Ometepe (Nicaragua) Islands. Out of friendship, we help Ometepe communities in education, health, livelihood, and community improvements. 15 13 0 70 0 0 106200 127800 0 0 546 3479 23660 30516 130406 161795 110310 136554 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7587 7100 117897 143654 12509 18141 365646 382657 7971 6841 357675 375816 We encourage mutual understanding, education, friendship, and cultural exchanges between the Sister Islands of Bainbridge Island, WA (USA) and Ometepe Island (Nicaragua). Out of friendship, we help communities on Ometepe, primarily in the areas of education, health, and meeting general community needs. 0 0 74858 74858 0 Education: We support students in college with scholarships, and we support learning for special needs students, including blind, deaf, and mobility-challenged people. In its 32nd year, college scholarships helped over 60 students who graduated from Ometepe high schools to study in Nicaraguan universities. Students are selected and monitored by committees in the 9 communities on Ometepe which have high schools and receive stipends of up to $95 a month to assist them with the costs of their university education. Funding is also provided for college seniors and graduate students to complete the additional work required for a degree and certificate in their chosen fields. We fund an interpreter for deaf students, and with her help, we teach sign language to deaf students. We fund technology that helps blind people, and teach them braille and mobility strategies. For all students, but particularly for those challenged by mobility issues, we fund costs for transportation for them to access what is offered. In the field of mental health, we fund the salary of a full-time psychologist to educate, support, and give therapy to combat sexual and domestic violence, and suicide, all of which are significant problems on Ometepe. We also pay for her transportation and other costs associated with her efforts. We also support extra-academic needs (clothing, school supplies) for students to attend a class for those who have had their education delayed to the point where they are too old to be with their peers. 26433 26433 0 Travel: After a few years when Covid and political unrest in Nicaragua stopped travel between our two communities, 2023 was the first year in which we were able to send a group of high school students to Ometepe to spend time in two communities on the island, working on projects and staying in local homes with families. Also, two staff members from the Ometepe office traveled to Bainbridge. We also supported the travel costs of an adult from Bainbridge Island who lived on Ometepe for 8 months helping in our office with our programs and with communication back to the board. It was exciting hat we were once again supporting the building of personal relationships between the people of our two communities. 13209 13209 0 Community support: For coffee growers on Ometepe: Production of coffee on Ometepe, which we buy, import, roast, and sell in the US, was significantly impacted by fungal disease over the last several years. We continue to support spraying, fertilization, and introduction of new plants to try to increase the size of the coffee crop. We fund a full-time agronomist to support these efforts. For community needs and projects: These are brought to our office on Ometepe by community members, and approved and funded if they show value to the community and community willingness to engage with us in the success of their projects, usually through their labor. 22054 22054 0 These expenses are associated with the Ometepe office. The office screens, coordinates, and monitors all of BOSIA's activities and funding requests on Ometepe. Included in this expense is the salary of the general manager of BOSIA's efforts and presence on Ometepe. Other office expenses include utilities payments, rent, supplies, and other such expenses. Also included here are monthly stipends for a Bainbridge resident to help in the office. The total expense in this category is more than the #3 entry in this section (above), but this category includes a variety of elements, and general support of all of our programs. 22054 22054 0 136554 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 15 13 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 WA X X Paul I Carroll 2068426266 PO Box 4484 Rolling Bay WA 98061 X Alexa Sinclair Board member 1 0 X 0 0 0 Elizabeth Carroll Board member 2 0 X 0 0 0 Carol Carley Board member 1.5 1.5 X 0 0 0 Dan Bacon Board member 1 1 X 0 0 0 Robin Supplee Board member 1 1 X 0 0 0 Barbara Saur Board member 1 1 X 0 0 0 Amanda Witt Board member 0.5 0 X 0 0 0 Myong Lee Board member 1 0 X 0 0 0 Auden Moyer Student board member 0.5 0 X 0 0 0 Mayzie Carleton Student board member 0.5 0 X 0 0 0 Brenda Berry Board member 1.5 0 X 0 0 0 Deb Russell President 2 0 X 0 0 0 Stella Carosso Board Secretary 2 0 X X 0 0 0 Paul Carroll Board Treasurer 4 0 X X 0 0 0 Cami Holtmeier Vice-president of board 2 0 X X 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 801 1797 0 0 125202 0 127800 0 3479 3479 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4590 1797 2529 2061 0 2061 73462 45007 28455 28455 0 0 0 161795 31934 0 2061 0 0 0 0 136554 136554 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3214 0 3214 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1182 0 1182 0 1956 0 1956 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 60 0 60 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 688 0 688 0 0 0 0 0 143654 136554 7100 0 219994 189852 58765 128535 0 0 5178 4363 0 0 0 0 0 0 21985 23630 59724 36277 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 365646 382657 0 0 7971 6841 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7971 6841 X 0 0 0 0 357675 375816 357675 375816 365646 382657 18141 0 0 0 0 0 X 0 0 0 X 97280 95564 152522 93333 127800 566499 85867 77540 81720 66590 78052 389769 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 183147 173104 234242 159923 205852 956268 29326 37247 49400 30045 29460 175478 0 0 26550 25000 15400 66950 29326 37247 75950 55045 44860 242428 713840 477 285 319 546 3479 5106 0 0 0 0 0 0 477 285 319 546 3479 5106 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 183624 173389 234561 160469 209331 961374 0.74252 0.77347 0.00531 0.00224 X RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED 1 Central America and the Caribbean 1 6 Program Services We support programs helping the people of Ometepe in their psychological health, their education, community projects, and learning ways to cope with special needs like deafness or blindness, and we support coffee growers on the island. 114819 1 6 114819 Financial aid for Ometepe students attending college in Nicaragua Central America and the Caribbean 61 46060 cash stipends are given on a monthly basis to individual students 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Schedule F, Part I, Line 2 Staff members in the office on Ometepe are responsible for disbursing funds for expenditures, and are responsible for ensuring that funds are spent as intended. Committees on Bainbridge monitor each program, and are in communication with the staff. The treasurer monitors all financial transactions happening on Ometepe on a monthly basis. Schedule F, Part I, Line 3 We use accrual accounting, so all expenditures are recognized as they are paid. We really aren't giving grants in the normal sense of the term, but instead supporting programs on Ometepe with our expenditures. Form 990, Part VI, Section A, Line 2 Elizabeth Carroll and Paul Carroll are married. Form 990, Part VI, Section A, Line 6 Loosely, we regard all who have been active in the organization as members. There are no strict membership criteria. Form 990, Part VI, Section A, Line 7a Once a year we have an annual meeting to which all are invited. At that meeting, we nominate new board members and new officers, and if changes in the documents of the organization have been seen to need changes, we present them, along with the personnel changes, to the assembled people for approval by voting. Form 990, Part VI, Section A, Line 7b As in the previous explanation, interested people can attend the annual meeting of the organization and vote, along with board members to approve new board members, new officers, and/or changes in the by-laws. (All of those are presented by the board.) Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 11b A PDF of the 990 is emailed to all board members with a summary included and directions about how to read it to understand it better. It is then presented again by the treasurer in a board meeting before it is filed, and approved by the board by a vote at that meeting. Form 990, Part VI, Section C, Line 19 The governing documents are on the website, but financial documents are not distributed to the public during the year.