Form 990 for tax year 2025

Totals

Total revenue

$2,976,518

Total expenses

$3,054,901

Contributions and grants received

$2,774,429

Grants paid

$0

Program service revenue

$96,119

Investment income

$92,134

Other revenue

$13,836

Total assets, end of year

$3,746,302

Total liabilities, end of year

$2,021,661

Net assets or fund balances, end of year

$1,724,641

Program services expenses (Part IX)

$2,652,084

Management and general expenses

$254,127

Fundraising expenses

$148,690

Program service expenses (Part III)

$2,652,084

Program services were 86.8% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Mission and programs · 2025

• HOUSING PROGRAM: RISING FOR JUSTICE (RFJ) ADVANCES HOUSING STABILITY AND PREVENTS EVICTION THROUGH ITS HOUSING ADVOCACY AND LITIGATION CLINIC (HALC), STABILIZING COMMUNITIES (STABCOMM) PROGRAM, AND TENANT JUSTICE PROGRAM (TJP). TOGETHER, THESE INITIATIVES PROVIDE CRITICAL LEGAL REPRESENTATION AND SOCIAL-WORK SUPPORT TO LOW-INCOME DC RESIDENTS FACING EVICTION, UNSAFE HOUSING CONDITIONS, OR BARRIERS TO STABLE HOUSING. DC'S ONGOING HOUSING CRISIS, MARKED BY SOARING RENTS, LOSS OF AFFORDABLE UNITS, AND WIDENING RACIAL DISPARITIES, HAS LEFT MANY TENANTS VULNERABLE TO DISPLACEMENT AND HOMELESSNESS.RFJ'S UNIQUE POSITION AS THE SOLE LEGAL SERVICES PROVIDER IN DC OFFERING IMMEDIATE LEGAL ADVICE AND EVICTION DEFENSE IN THE LANDLORD AND TENANT BRANCH OF DC SUPERIOR COURT UNDERSCORES THE URGENCY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ITS WORK. ATTORNEYS, LAW STUDENTS, AND SOCIAL WORKERS CONDUCT IN-PERSON INTAKE AT THE COURTHOUSE, ASSESS EACH TENANT'S LEGAL AND SOCIAL NEEDS, AND PROVIDE ADVICE, BRIEF SERVICES, OR EXTENDED REPRESENTATION. RFJ'S INTERDISCIPLINARY MODEL COMBINES COURTROOM ADVOCACY WITH HOLISTIC CASE MANAGEMENT, CONNECTING CLIENTS TO RENTAL ASSISTANCE, FOOD SECURITY PROGRAMS, MENTAL-HEALTH CARE, AND OTHER SUPPORTS THAT STRENGTHEN LONG-TERM STABILITY.IN FY 2025, RFJ AND ITS PARTNERS REPRESENTED THOUSANDS OF TENANTS CITYWIDE, HELPING FAMILIES AVOID EVICTION, NEGOTIATE FAIR SETTLEMENTS, AND REMAIN SAFELY HOUSED. THROUGH OUTREACH, SYSTEMIC ADVOCACY, AND LITIGATION, THESE PROGRAMS ADDRESS BOTH INDIVIDUAL CRISES AND THE STRUCTURAL INEQUITIES DRIVING DC'S HOUSING EMERGENCY. BY PAIRING LEGAL DEFENSE WITH SOCIAL WORK INTERVENTION, RFJ ENSURES THAT DC'S MOST VULNERABLE RESIDENTS HAVE A FAIR CHANCE TO PRESERVE THEIR HOMES AND REBUILD STABILITY.

  Expenses $88,003 · Revenue $96,119

• EXPUNGEMENT & RECORD SEALING: RISING FOR JUSTICE (RFJ) PROVIDES LEGAL REPRESENTATION AND HOLISTIC SUPPORT TO DC RESIDENTS SEEKING TO SEAL OR EXPUNGE CRIMINAL RECORDS. NEARLY 68,000 DC RESIDENTS, DISPROPORTIONATELY PEOPLE OF COLOR, LIVE WITH CRIMINAL RECORDS THAT RESTRICT ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT, HOUSING, AND EDUCATION. BLACK RESIDENTS MAKE UP 43% OF THE CITY'S POPULATION BUT 86% OF ARRESTS, A DISPARITY THAT PERPETUATES CYCLES OF POVERTY AND EXCLUSION.THROUGH ITS CRIMINAL RECORD SEALING PROGRAM, RFJ ASSISTS CLIENTS IN NAVIGATING COMPLEX ELIGIBILITY AND FILING REQUIREMENTS, DRAFTING MOTIONS, COLLECTING DOCUMENTATION, AND PREPARING EVIDENCE OF REHABILITATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT. THE PROGRAM INTEGRATES LEGAL AND SOCIAL WORK SERVICES, ENSURING THAT EVERY CLIENT NOT ONLY SECURES RECORD RELIEF BUT ALSO CONNECTS WITH EMPLOYMENT, HOUSING, AND EDUCATION RESOURCES TO SUSTAIN LONG-TERM STABILITY. BY COMBINING LEGAL EXPERTISE AND WRAPAROUND SUPPORT, RFJ HELPS CLIENTS OBTAIN LIFE-CHANGING RELIEF. ONCE RECORDS ARE SEALED, INDIVIDUALS EXPERIENCE MEASURABLE GAINS IN EMPLOYMENT AND INCOME, WITH STUDIES SHOWING AVERAGE WAGE INCREASES OF 22% WITHIN 1 YEAR. THE PROGRAM RESTORES OPPORTUNITY, DIGNITY, AND ECONOMIC MOBILITY FOR DC RESIDENTS REBUILDING THEIR LIVES AFTER INVOLVEMENT WITH THE JUSTICE SYSTEM.

  Expenses $230,503

• RESPONDENT REPRESENTATION: RISING FOR JUSTICE (RFJ) OPERATES THE RESPONDENT REPRESENTATION PROGRAM (RRP) TO ENSURE DUE PROCESS AND EQUITY IN CIVIL PROTECTION ORDER (CPO) AND ANTI-STALKING ORDER (ASO) CASES IN DC. EACH YEAR, OVER 6,000 OF THESE CASES ARE FILED IN THE DC SUPERIOR COURT. PETITIONERS OFTEN RECEIVE LEGAL ASSISTANCE, WHILE RESPONDENTS, WHO FACE SERIOUS RISKS TO HOUSING, EMPLOYMENT, AND FAMILY STABILITY, ARE ALMOST ALWAYS UNREPRESENTED. LAUNCHED IN 2018 AT THE REQUEST OF THE DC SUPERIOR COURT, THE RRP ADDRESSES ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT GAPS IN THE CITY'S CIVIL JUSTICE SYSTEM. JUDGES, ATTORNEY-NEGOTIATORS, AND COURT STAFF CONSISTENTLY AFFIRM THAT WHEN RESPONDENTS HAVE COUNSEL, CASES PROCEED MORE EFFICIENTLY, OUTCOMES ARE FAIRER, AND COMPLIANCE WITH COURT ORDERS IMPROVES, ENHANCING SAFETY FOR ALL PARTIES.RFJ'S SOCIAL WORK PROGRAM SUPPORTS THE PROGRAM AND HAS A PROFOUND IMPACT, PROMOTING FAIRNESS, STABILIZING FAMILIES, PREVENTING HOMELESSNESS, AND STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY SAFETY. THE RRP CONTINUES TO STAND AS ONE OF DC'S FEW REMAINING PATHWAYS TO EQUAL JUSTICE, ENSURING THAT BOTH SIDES IN PROTECTION-ORDER CASES HAVE ACCESS TO COMPETENT REPRESENTATION.

  Expenses $2,333,578

As filed on the 2025 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Listed in Part VII

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us.

Schedule J

Part I's answers as filed. A line not listed was left unanswered; on lines 1a and 3 that means the box was not checked.

Grants on this return

No itemized grants to organizations on this return.

Provenance

Return type

form_990

Tax year

2025

Filed

7 August 2026

IRS schema version

2025v4.2

Source object

202622269349300612

Check it against the return as filed: the GivingTuesday Data Lake hosts a public copy of the original XML.

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