Skip to content
California Communications Access Foundation Dba Ability Central at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

California Communications Access Foundation Dba Ability Central

The mission of california communications access foundation (ccaf) is to serve as an educator, convener and resource that works collaboratively to ensure communications and information access in service of individuals who are deaf or disabled.

$793k
Granted FY2025still arriving
12
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Health$4.8MEducation$1.6MHuman Services$1.1MCivil Rights$590kYouth Development$345kEmployment$341kPublic Safety & Disaster$175kCrime & Legal$169kOther$0
02FY2025 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k5 grants · $190k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $631k
$72,614
Median grant
1
States reached
$54M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LEONARDO THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE ARTS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY$100,000
KIDPOWER TEENPOWER FULLPOWER INTERNATIONAL$100,000
DISABILITY VOICES UNITED$99,853
WORLD INSTITUTE ON DISABILITY$98,281
RADY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL-SAN DIEGO$98,068
SOCIETY FOR THE BLIND$72,614
CALIFORNIA POLICY CENTER FOR INTELLECTUAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES$62,656
THE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING$45,000
HEARTS FOR SIGHT FOUNDATION$42,100
GOODWILL OF ORANGE COUNTY$41,700
THE BLACK DEAF PROJECT$34,290
PACIFIC HEARING CONNECTION$26,500
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–25, $2.4M) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 74% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Parents Helping Parents: $100k → 8%Collabria Care: $17k → 9%The Arc of Ventura County: $24k → 10%Disability Action Center: $40k → 14%MYCHAL'S LEARNING PLACE: $80k → 14%Parents & Friends Inc: $34k → 18%Innovative Health Care Services Inc: $29k → 18%Parents Helping Parents: $32k → 8%OPARC: $68k → 14%Dignity Health Connected Living: $200 → 14%Exceptional Parents Unlimited: $80k → 19%Parents Helping Parents: $29k → 8%Resource for Education Advocacy Communication and Housing (REACH): $71k → 14%Exceptional Parents Unlimited: $80k → 19%Parents Helping Parents: $26k → 8%Various recipients 8600 each: $26k → 10%LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired: $107k → 10%Resource for Education Advocacy Communication and Housing (REACH): $17k → 14%Exceptional Parents Unlimited: $80k → 19%Parents Helping Parents: $24k → 8%LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND: $100k → 10%Exceptional Parents Unlimited: $140k → 19%Beneficent Technology Inc DBA Benetech: $100k → 8%Support for Families of Children with Disabilities: $88k → 10%Beneficent Technology Inc DBA Benetech: $100k → 8%Support for Families of Children with Disabilities: $84k → 10%HEARTS FOR SIGHT FOUNDATION: $42k → 14%Beneficent Technology Inc DBA Benetech: $80k → 8%LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired: $26k → 10%HEARTS FOR SIGHT FOUNDATION: $27k → 14%Noah Homes Inc: $75k → 11%Beneficent Technology Inc DBA Benetech: $80k → 8%Noah Homes Inc: $20k → 11%Noah Homes Inc: $20k → 11%Supported Life Institute: $76k → 12%Supported Life Institute: $54k → 12%Deaf Counseling Advocacy and Referral Agency (DCARA): $100k → 10%Deaf Counseling Advocacy and Referral Agency (DCARA): $100k → 10%Deaf Counseling Advocacy and Referral Agency (DCARA): $78k → 10%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 16% of California Communications Access Foundation Dba Ability Central’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 99% of the giving stays in CA; by stated purpose, 83%.

California Communications Access Foundation Dba Ability Centrallessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

79%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$7.3M · 35 repeat orgs$2.0M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +18% since the first grant, against +11% for those funded once.

35 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 27 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

35
39

Total granted

$7.3M
$1.7M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+18%
+11%

Still filing today

91%
92%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 73% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $222k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesHealthEducationCivil RightsFood & NutritionArts & CultureOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • KT
    KIDPOWER TEENPOWER FULLPOWER International
    6× · 2020–2025 · $445k · revenue +37%
  • CC
    Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare
    4× · 2017–2021 · $441k · revenue +18%
  • TB
    The Bridge School
    4× · 2019–2023 · $426k · revenue +58%

Funded once

  • AN
    ALS Networkgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $100k · revenue +79%
  • IF
    Institute for Exceptional Care
    one grant, 2024 · $100k · revenue 0%
  • SF
    SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2024 · $100k · revenue -25%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
California Disability Services Association

The california disability services association champions options and access for the idd community by connecting, representing, and empowering the providers who support them.

Community Improvement
2
Access Central Coast formerly Independent Living Resource Ctr

To promote independent living and full access for people with disabilities through advocacy education and action in our communities.

—
3
Alta California Regional Center Inc

The center provides diagnostic evaluations, client coordination and lifelong planning of services for persons with developmental disabilities and their families in accordance with the lanterman developmental disabilities act.

—
4
Coastal Developmental Services Foundation

It is wrc's mission to support people with developmental disabilities, their families, and communities of choice by facilitating access to person-centered, culturally responsive services and resources.

—
5
San Andreas Regional Center

The center provides advocacy, assessment, information, and coordinated services that support individuals with developmental disabilities and their families in making informed choices and leading self-directed lives.

Human Services
6
Silicon Valley Independent Living Center

SVILC builds disability identity, culture, pride, creating opportunities for personal and community transformation, and partnering with others to ensure that civil and human rights are protected.

Human Services
7
People with Disabilities Succeeding

Community support for Developmentally Disabled Adults, with a main emphasis on helping people to obtain and maintain real jobs in local businesses.

Employment
8
Central Valley Regional Center

The center's mission is to help individuals with developmental disabilities, and children at risk, to reach their goals.

Human Services
9
South Central Los Angeles Regional Center for Dev Disabled Persons Inc

South central los angeles regional center, (sclarc), believes special needs deserve special attention. we are committed to the provision of culturally sensitive services which enhance the inherent strengths of the family and enable…

Human Services
10
Golden Gate Regional Center Inc

Golden gate regional center, inc. (the center) is a not-for-profit corporation chartered by the state of california. the center administers programs for developmentally disabled persons and their families, which include diagnosis,…

Human Services
11
Bakersfield Arc Inc

assist developmentally disabled individuals.

Human Services
12
Regional Center of the East Bay Inc

Regional Center of the East Bay, Inc. (The "Center"), a California NonProfit Public Benefit Corporation under contract with the state of California Department of Developmental Services ("DDS"), was formed in 1975 to administer programs for…

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Disability Rights California; the most unlike its peers is The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

76 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 76 of the 81 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
75/76
Grantees still filing
52/76
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

EXCEPTIONAL PARENTS UNLIMITED INC: $379,900 · Human ServicesEXCEPTIONAL PARENTS UNLIMITE…BENEFICENT TECHNOLOGY INC: $360,000 · Human ServicesBENEFICENT TECHNOLOGY INCDEAF COUNSELING ADVOCACY & REFERRAL AGENCY: $278,000 · Human ServicesDEAF COUNSELING ADVOCACY & R…LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED: $233,400 · Human ServicesLIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND AND…PARENTS HELPING PARENTS INC: $210,290 · Human ServicesPARENTS HELPING PARENTS INCSupport for Families of Children with Disabilities: $171,936 · Human ServicesSupport for Families of Chil…Supported Life Institute: $130,100 · Human ServicesSupported Life InstituteNOAH HOMES INC: $115,000 · Human ServicesResource for Education Advocacy Communication and Housing: $87,800 · Human ServicesMYCHALS LEARNING PLACE: $80,000 · Human Services+9 more: $306,546 · Human Services+9 moreCasa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare: $440,720 · HealthCasa Colina Hospital a…SOCIETY FOR THE BLIND INC: $299,395 · HealthSOCIETY FOR THE BLIND …IGNITE COLLECTIVE INC: $188,414 · HealthIGNITE COLLECTIVE INCDOWN SYNDROME CONNECTION OF THE BAY AREA: $168,000 · HealthDOWN SYNDROME CONNECTI…Autism Society Inland Empire Inc: $130,000 · HealthAutism Society Inland …ALS Network: $100,000 · HealthInstitute for Exceptional Care: $100,000 · HealthNORCAL SERVICES FOR DEAF & HARD OF HEARING: $100,000 · HealthRADY CHILDREN'S HEALTH: $98,068 · HealthPAINTED BRAIN: $94,000 · Health+7 more: $203,821 · Health+7 moreDisability Voices United: $362,263 · OtherDisability Voices UnitedREGENTS UNIV OF CALIFORNIA: $200,000 · OtherREGENTS UNIV OF CALIFORNIAHEARING AND SPEECH CENTER OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: $186,715 · OtherHEARING AND SPEECH CENTER …WORLD INSTITUTE ON DISABILITY: $183,241 · OtherWORLD INSTITUTE ON DISABIL…SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY: $174,505 · OtherSAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVER…International Society for Arts Science and Technology DBA LeonardoISAST: $170,000 · OtherInternational Society for …CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING: $145,000 · OtherCENTER FOR INDEPENDENT LIV…UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO: $100,000 · OtherTHE UNIVERSITY CORPORATION: $99,000 · OtherTHE SMITH-KETTLEWELL EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $98,590 · OtherProject Miracle: $120,000 · OtherProject MiracleQueer Women of Color Media Arts Project: $85,200 · OtherEAST BAY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $83,007 · OtherCOMMUNITY EMERGENCY RESPONSE VOLUNTEERS OF THE MONTEREY PENINSULA: $75,000 · Other+13 more: $148,074 · Other+13 moreThe Bridge School: $426,000 · EducationThe Bridge SchoolTHE UNIVERSITY CORPORATION SAN FRANCISCO STATE: $399,120 · EducationTHE UNIVERSITY CORP…Center for Innovation and Resources Inc: $169,000 · EducationCenter for Innovati…CALIFORNIA LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY: $157,184 · EducationCALIFORNIA LUTHERAN…CALIFONIA STATE UNIVERSITY EAST BAY FOUNDATION INC: $121,600 · EducationCALIFONIA STATE UNI…SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $100,000 · EducationSAN FRANCISCO STATE…THE CAMPANILE FOUNDATION: $91,581 · EducationTHE CAMPANILE FOUND…Center for Early Intervention on Deafness: $66,300 · Education+2 more: $87,540 · Education+2 moreDISABILITY RIGHTS CALIFORNIA: $270,100 · Civil RightsTEAM OF ADVOCATES FOR SPECIAL KIDS: $112,091 · Civil RightsSAN DIEGO LESBIAN GAY BISEXUAL TRANSGENDER PRIDE INC: $90,000 · Civil RightsDisability Rights Education and Defense Fund Inc: $75,000 · Civil RightsCALIFORNIA POLICY CENTER FOR I: $62,656 · Civil RightsKIDPOWER TEENPOWER FULLPOWER International: $445,000 · Youth DevelopmentGOODWILL INDUSTRIES OF ORANGE COUNTY CALIFORNIA: $220,500 · EmploymentHOPE SERVICES: $82,794 · Employment
Human Services$2,352,972Health$1,922,418Other$2,230,595Education$1,618,325Civil Rights$609,847Youth Development$445,000Employment$303,294

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetKIDPOWER TEENPOWER FULLPOWER International: $445,000 over 6y, 9.3% of budgetCasa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare: $440,720 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetThe Bridge School: $426,000 over 4y, 6.5% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY CORPORATION SAN FRANCISCO STATE: $399,120 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetEXCEPTIONAL PARENTS UNLIMITED INC: $379,900 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetDisability Voices United: $362,263 over 5y, 34% of budgetBENEFICENT TECHNOLOGY INC: $360,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetSOCIETY FOR THE BLIND INC: $299,395 over 6y, 2.1% of budgetDEAF COUNSELING ADVOCACY & REFERRAL AGENCY: $278,000 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetDISABILITY RIGHTS CALIFORNIA: $270,100 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetLIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED: $233,400 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetGOODWILL INDUSTRIES OF ORANGE COUNTY CALIFORNIA: $220,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetPARENTS HELPING PARENTS INC: $210,290 over 4y, 5.0% of budgetIGNITE COLLECTIVE INC: $188,414 over 5y, 5.7% of budgetHEARING AND SPEECH CENTER OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: $186,715 over 3y, 3.2% of budgetWORLD INSTITUTE ON DISABILITY: $183,241 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetSupport for Families of Children with Disabilities: $171,936 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetInternational Society for Arts Science and Technology DBA LeonardoISAST: $170,000 over 2y, 7.1% of budgetCenter for Innovation and Resources Inc: $169,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetDOWN SYNDROME CONNECTION OF THE BAY AREA: $168,000 over 3y, 3.4% of budgetCALIFORNIA LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY: $157,184 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCENTER FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING: $145,000 over 2y, 3.0% of budgetSupported Life Institute: $130,100 over 2y, 8.5% of budgetAutism Society Inland Empire Inc: $130,000 over 2y, 7.5% of budgetCALIFONIA STATE UNIVERSITY EAST BAY FOUNDATION INC: $121,600 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetProject Miracle: $120,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetNOAH HOMES INC: $115,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetTEAM OF ADVOCATES FOR SPECIAL KIDS: $112,091 over 3y, 2.7% of budgetALS Network: $100,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetInstitute for Exceptional Care: $100,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetNORCAL SERVICES FOR DEAF & HARD OF HEARING: $100,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY CORPORATION: $99,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetRADY CHILDREN'S HEALTH: $98,068 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPAINTED BRAIN: $94,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetTHE CAMPANILE FOUNDATION: $91,581 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetSAN DIEGO LESBIAN GAY BISEXUAL TRANSGENDER PRIDE INC: $90,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetQueer Women of Color Media Arts Project: $85,200 over 1y, 13% of budgetEAST BAY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $83,007 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetHOPE SERVICES: $82,794 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMYCHALS LEARNING PLACE: $80,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY EMERGENCY RESPONSE VOLUNTEERS OF THE MONTEREY PENINSULA: $75,000 over 1y, 18% of budgetDisability Rights Education and Defense Fund Inc: $75,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetHEARTS FOR SIGHT FOUNDATION: $69,100 over 2y, 22% of budgetOPARC: $67,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetUCLA FOUNDATION: $53,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTERI Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetRANCHO LOS AMIGOS FOUNDATION INC: $44,750 over 1y, 3.3% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Kaiser Foundation Hos…Frank Nigro Columbian…With FoundationCalifornia Foundation…California Community …Silicon Valley Commun…San Jose Mercury News…The San Francisco Fou…Horizons FoundationCalifornia Foundation…Dignity HealthPublic Health Institu…
Kaiser Foundation HospitalsCA26.2× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Kaiser Foundation Hospitals · Frank Nigro Columbian Foundation Supporting People With Intellectual Disabi · With Foundation · California Foundation for Independent Living Centers · California Community Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · San Jose Mercury News Wish Book Fund Inc · The San Francisco Foundation · Horizons Foundation · California Foundation for Stronger Communities · Dignity Health · Public Health Institute

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization California Communications Access Foundation Dba Ability Central funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from California Communications Access Foundation Dba Ability Central. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    27report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 81 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on California Communications Access Foundation Dba Ability Central’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home