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LIVE FREE CHICAGO

EIN 81-5487128 CHICAGO, IL

Revenue 2024
$2,173,869
Expenses 2024
$2,255,911

Program services were 96.0% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

As filed

Subsection
03
Classification
2000
Street
2150 S CANALPORT AVE STE 2A1

These codes are the IRS's own and are shown exactly as filed. What each one means is in the Business Master File documentation (opens in a new tab).

Mission and programs · 2024

Mission

LIVE FREE ILLINOIS IS A STATEWIDE ORGANIZATION PARTNERING WITH OVER 120 CONGREGATIONS AND DIRECTLY IMPACTED INDIVIDUALS TO BUILD SAFER, MORE QUITABLE COMMUNITIES ACROSS ILLINOIS. OPERATING AT THE INTERSECTION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM ABD PUBLIC SAFETY, THE ORGANIZATION DRIVES SYSTEMIC CHANGE TO REDUCE VIOLENCE, IMPROVE POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY, AND INVEST IN COMMUNITY-LED SOLUTIONS.

  • COMMUNITY HEALING RESOURCE CENTERS (CHRCS): ESTABLISHED TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE CENTERS IN NEIGHBORHOODS LIKE AUSTIN, NORTH LAWNDALE, AND EAST GARFIELD PARK. ENGAGED 11,562 INDIVIDUALS THROUGH OUTREACH AND HEALING EVENTS.

    Expenses $2,165,676

  • ORGANIZING AND ADVOCACY: HOSTS GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING TRAININGS AND CAMPAIGNS. LEADS INITIATIVES SUCH AS THE CLEARANCE RATES CAMPAIGN AND ADVOCACY FOR THE OFFICE OF GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION. ACHIEVED $200M IN STATE VIOLENCE PREVENTION FUNDING AND A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN CHICAGO'S GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION BUDGET FROM $30M TO $78M.

  • ILLINOIS COALITION TO END PERMANENT PUNISHMENTS (ENDPP.ORG): EXPANDED ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY AND PUBLIC AWARENESS IN 2024. PASSED THE FREE ACT, SECURED FUNDING RELATIONSHIPS, AND ADVANCED LEGISLATIVE REFORMS. DEVELOPED A REPLICABLE ADVOCACY MODEL INTEGRATING RESEARCH, ORGANIZING, POLICY, AND ARTS.

  • DECARCERATION FELLOWSHIP: LAUNCHED THE FIRST COHORT IN 2024 WITH 13 FELLOWS GRADUATING. SECOND COHORT BEGAN AUGUST 2025 WITH PLANS FOR A THIRD COHORT. FOCUSES ON CREATING A SUPPORTIVE REENTRY PROCESS AND BUILDING LEADERSHIP AMONG DIRECTLY IMPACTED INDIVIDUALS.

  • ALL OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES.

As filed on the 2024 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Officers and directors · 2024

As listed in Part VII of the 2024 return, in the order the filer printed them. Each return names its own; this is not a roster the organization keeps with us.

  • REV BILL ELLIS

    President

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.5

  • CHICO TILLMAN

    Treasurer

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.5

  • TENY GROSS

    Vice President

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.5

  • STEPHEN THURSTON

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.25

  • ROBBIE CRAIG

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.25

  • KATHLEEN SANCHES

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.25

  • ANGELA MAHAFFEY

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.25

  • JANETTE WILSON

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.25

  • CIERA BATES CHAMBERLAIN

    Executive Dir.

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    40

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. Earlier years are each on their own filing page.

Filings

  • 2024
    Revenue
    $2,173,869
    Expenses
    $2,255,911
    Contributions
    $2,120,115
    Grants paid
    $0
  • 2024
    Revenue
    $2,206,906
    Expenses
    $2,251,678
    Contributions
    $2,153,153
    Grants paid
    $0
  • 2023
    Revenue
    $3,831,430
    Expenses
    $3,201,108
    Contributions
    $3,764,632
    Grants paid
    $0
  • 2022
    Revenue
    $1,258,097
    Expenses
    $889,785
    Contributions
    $1,216,197
    Grants paid
    $0

The four totals the IRS asks for on Part I of the Form 990, as filed. A dash means the figure was not present on the return — not that it was zero.

Other returns filed

  • 2021 · 990

    Revenue
    $1,121,570
    Expenses
    $622,289
    Assets (EOY)
    $716,684

  • 2020 · 990

    Revenue
    $370,234
    Expenses
    $353,036
    Assets (EOY)
    $228,168

  • 2019 · 990

    Revenue
    $287,870
    Expenses
    $106,371
    Assets (EOY)
    $200,205

Nonprofiteer parses Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF, in a window of recent tax years. These returns are recorded from the IRS e-file index, so their figures were extracted by that index rather than read from the return here — treat them as a different source from the filings above, not as more of the same record. A dash means the index carries no figure; Form 990-T listings carry none at all.

Grants made

No itemized grants to organizations. Schedule I is filed only by organizations that granted more than $5,000 to a recipient, so most filers have none.

Grants received

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Other IRS files

Auto-Revocation List

Not listed. The IRS publishes this list for organizations whose exemption was automatically revoked for failing to file for three consecutive years.

Publication 78

Listed as of 13 October 2026, under deductibility PC.

These are two separate IRS files on two separate schedules, shown as published and not reconciled with each other. Neither is a statement about whether a contribution is deductible today: 19,245 organizations appear in Publication 78 while the IRS's own revocation file lists them as currently revoked, more than half of those revoked before 2019. Absence from Publication 78 is evidence of nothing, and presence is not evidence either. Verify current status with the IRS before relying on it.

What this page reflects

The registration facts above come from the IRS Business Master File published 13 October 2026 and read 26 October 2026, for every organization at once. Returns through tax year 2024, the newest we have parsed for this organization.