Paying Their Way

The heads of Houston's two main agencies for the homeless make a relatively good living while caring for the downtrodden.

As president of the Star of Hope in 2001, Randy Tabor drew about $126,500 in salary and benefits, according to the agency's IRS statements. Randy's wife, director of development Kathy Tabor, made $77,000 in pay and benefits. The remaining three highest-paid employees all drew between $71,000 and $76,000.

The Star of Hope also spent $645,526 publicizing fund-raisers in 2000, hiring the Illinois public relations firm of Douglas Shaw & Associates to mail hundreds of letters throughout the year. Shaw says his company can take an investment and typically generate up to five times that amount in donations.

As executive director of SEARCH, Sandy Kesseler collected a compensation package of about $97,000 in 2001, according to the agency's IRS Form 990. Kesseler donated $5,000 back to SEARCH.

The executives' salaries and benefits are well within the range of a United Way survey of salaries for executive directors/CEOs of nonprofit groups. -- Craig Malisow