California · Nonprofit
STARTING OVER STRONG
STARTING OVER STRONG (California) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $320,000 to it, the largest being THE HEISING-SIMONS ACTION FUND ($175,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $201k
- Funders on record
- 4
- Grants received
- $320k
- Net assets
- $179k
What Starting Over Strong does
Mission
Starting Over Strong (SOS) is dedicated to advocating for individuals re-entering society, ensuring they have access to essential services such as housing, job placement, retraining programs, and addressing food insecurity. We amplify their voices through policy advocacy, public awareness campaigns, and by supporting candidates and organizations that align with our mission. Our vision is a society where every person re-entering society receives the support and resources necessary to rebuild their lives and thrive. Key activities include championing policies that provide comprehensive services, conducting public awareness campaigns, educating voters on critical issues, organizing grassroots mobilization efforts, endorsing and supporting aligned candidates, and lobbying for policies that promote long-term stability and self-sufficiency.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2025 return the organization reported starting a significant new program and a significant change in how it conducts a program.
In 2025, SOS undertook a new program service: voter education and civic engagement outreach in support of Proposition 50, a November 2025 special election measure on congressional redistricting
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
Effective January 1, 2025, Nathan P. Kempe transitioned from independent contractor to W-2 employee status. Effective June 15, 2025, Bianca C. Mendoza joined SOS as a new W-2 employee at an annualized salary of $55,000, receiving $29,792 for 6.5 months of service.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
In 2025, Starting Over Strong (SOS) conducted nonpartisan civic education and voter outreach in the Inland Empire to educate and mobilize system-impacted and historically underrepresented communities. SOS served as a vendor for IE United to conduct canvassing and phonebank outreach, educating voters about Proposition 50, a November 2025 special election measure on congressional redistricting. SOS deployed canvassers and phone-bankers reaching thousands of system-impacted residents, strengthening long-term civic participation among communities most affected by the carceral system.
$83,177 spent47% of program spendingIn 2025, Starting Over Strong (SOS) advanced community education and public awareness around law enforcement accountability as a core social welfare function. SOS led the Riverside Sheriff Accountability Coalition (RSAC), a broad network of individuals and organizations that educates residents about in-custody deaths, misconduct, and the need for independent civilian oversight of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. SOS collected over 3,000 petition signatures, published op-eds, hosted community education events, engaged contractors for community outreach and awareness activities, and filed a Notice of Intent to Circulate Petition with the Riverside County Registrar in December 2025.
$37,291 spent21% of program spendingIn 2025, Starting Over Strong (SOS) co-sponsored AB 1201 (Jackson), the ReUNITY Act, to reduce unnecessary family separation in California's child welfare system by replacing blanket exclusions for parents with prior felony convictions with individualized, trauma-informed assessments. SOS led coalition redrafting, coordinated a statewide coalition of over 50 organizations, mobilized community testimony, and managed amendment discussions through the 2025 legislative session, advancing the bill through the Assembly and into the Senate.
$26,643 spent15% of program spendingIn 2025, Starting Over Strong (SOS) supported state and local legislation aligned with its reentry, housing, and criminal justice reform mission through co-sponsorship letters, public comment, coalition participation, and legislative education. SOS maintained active roles in regional coalitions and contributed to shared advocacy strategies and public education efforts. SOS also advanced its ongoing effort to repurpose the Benoit Detention Center into a community cooling and warming center with wraparound services, meeting with county public health officials and engaging county department heads to build alignment for this social welfare infrastructure proposal.
$28,782 spent16% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $175,893.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2022, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2022, 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 2022 to 2023, from $125k to $177k (+41%).
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.
100% of STARTING OVER STRONG’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (99% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 4 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Who funds it, year by year
Grant support over time, funder by funder — shade shows the grant size each year.
From the IRS filings of STARTING OVER STRONG’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
STARTING OVER STRONG leans on a few funders — its largest provides 55% of grant income and the top three 91%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
100% 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 STARTING OVER STRONG.
“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.
Where its funders are
75% of STARTING OVER STRONG's grant income comes from California funders.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. 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
STARTING OVER STRONG is better cushioned than half of the 904 civil rights nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 904 civil rights nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like STARTING OVER STRONG
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
90% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for STARTING OVER STRONG: 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 STARTING OVER STRONG?
- STARTING OVER STRONG (California) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $320,000 to it, the largest being THE HEISING-SIMONS ACTION FUND ($175,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does STARTING OVER STRONG have?
- IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $320,000 in grants to STARTING OVER STRONG, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of STARTING OVER STRONG?
- THE HEISING-SIMONS ACTION FUND is the largest funder on record, with $175,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like STARTING OVER STRONG find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 Starting Over Strong →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2022–2025), and the filings of 4 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing