Virginia · Nonprofit
REAL LIFE
REAL LIFE (Virginia) receives grants from 32 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,143,909 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ($1,986,399). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.3M
- Funders on record
- 32
- Grants received
- $5.1M
- Net assets
- $1.5M
What Real Life does
Mission
REAL LIFE's mission is to create pathways to attain and sustain a thriving life for those who desire change. REAL LIFE's vision is to walk alongside its clients and those in need, in order to see them grow into a prosperous and thriving life.Our mission is to develop a relationship with each person we serve (as we refer to them, Lifers) that equips them to make the visible progress necessary for their personal pathway to a Thriving Life. Along the way, we engage the community and bring awareness to the needs of Lifers. Our work meets a standard of accountability we call compelling stewardship that allows us to engage Lifers with a level of service and financial effectiveness seldom seen.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
REAL LIFE helps bridge the deep divide between successful living and incarceration, homelessness, and substance use disorder. This is done by addressing these issues in a way that empowers individuals to become independent, successful, and valued members of their community through housing, employment, education, accountability, and emotional support. REAL LIFE provides Lifers with the skills and ability to face daily struggles and unexpected challenges, allowing them to be in control of their future.At REAL LIFE we refer to those we serve as Lifers because we help them in all aspects of life. To us, a Lifer is more than just a client, consumer, or patient. We know that when Lifers seek change through REAL LIFE, it will be a lifelong change. Developing a thriving life is more than staying clean; it is learning to live clean. It is the idea of recovering to something greater than what was lost. We take a holistic approach, as recovery is necessary for life and not just for the moments they are with us.Supporting Lifers in the development and implementation of a realistic plan to achieve their educational goals.As a complement to our Employment Pathways Program, we offer an…
$1,364,787 spent$946,336 earned by the program70% of program spendingREAL Housing supports Lifers that need a structured residential environment for recovery during their transition from incarceration, addiction, or homelessness to independent living and a Thriving Life.REAL LIFE sets the highest standards of care to foster personal growth, develop a foundation for long term recovery, and improve the quality of life through delivering REAL LIFE's 5 pillars of service.The housing crisis can be viewed as two primary issues "affordable housing and "controlled environment housing" needed for recovery and transition to independent living. Fortunately, several organizations are working for affordable housing. A lot of funding and work is being applied to affordable housing.REAL LIFE will always extend help to Lifers needing affordable housing upon completion of the program, but the unique housing contribution for REAL LIFE is accommodating Lifers who need a controlled environment to recover and/or transition to independent living.While we work to get individuals in a housing crisis into affordable housing, options are significantly limited for those without income (which most Lifers do not have). For those needing a recovery house, there is often nothing…
$555,037 spent28% of program spendingIt is our goal to meet clients where they are through either connecting clients with existing resources or fill the gaps where they are present. While Richmond has many great resources through non-profit and government resources, often individuals do not know how to navigate or access the many options. This is where REAL Life helps guide and connect them with such resources, such as housing, medical, or mental health. However, REAL Life also provides services/resources where there are gaps due to lack of services, whether that is due to not enough resources or none at all, such as cell phones, bus tickets, job assistance, mentoring, etc. One of our 'flagship' services is our weekly "alumni" meetings, which is a means of keeping a network of recovering individuals from our program together, as well as provide a plethora of meeting topics, such as 12 steps, obtaining a driver's license, budgeting, cooking, raising children, or anger management. The REAL House, located in South Richmond, was opened in May 2017, as a response to the growing need for affordable housing for those exiting incarceration. The house is also available for men exiting incarceration from the RCJC and is a…
$40,713 spent2% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,960,537.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $602k to $1.1M (+75%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2021 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
82% of REAL LIFE’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (39% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 17 funders, grant income rose $49k → $1.1M.
9 of 32 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 48% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of REAL LIFE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 32 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
REAL LIFE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 39% of grant income and the top three 72%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
91% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund REAL LIFE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 69% · 2019 99% · 2020 88% · 2021 47% · 2022 48% · 2023 45% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
43% of REAL LIFE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 53% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
85% of REAL LIFE's grant income comes from Virginia funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 9 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
REAL LIFE has grown faster than three-quarters of the 3,978 housing & shelter nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,978 housing & shelter nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like REAL LIFE
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Virginia
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
89% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for REAL LIFE: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds REAL LIFE?
- REAL LIFE (Virginia) receives grants from 32 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,143,909 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ($1,986,399). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does REAL LIFE have?
- IRS filings report 32 organizations giving $5,143,909 in grants to REAL LIFE, 17 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of REAL LIFE?
- THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $1,986,399 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like REAL LIFE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Virginia. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Real Life →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 32 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing