PROJECT RETURN INC

As filed

Subsection

03

Classification

1200

Street

109 LAFAYETTE ST

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

• JOB READINESS PROGRAM AND WRAPAROUND SERVICES: EVERY WEEK, PROJECT RETURN CONDUCTS A 2.5-DAY COURSE THAT EQUIPS OUR PARTICIPANTS WITH THE SOFT SKILLS NEEDED TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN THE WORKPLACE. FOR PEOPLE BEING RELEASED FROM PRISON AND RETURNING TO THE COMMUNITY, THIS PROGRAM PROVIDES SKILLS, INDIVIDUALIZED SUPPORT, AND OPORTUNITIES TO FIND AND KEEP A JOB. OUR CURRICULUM INCORPORATES FINANCIAL LITERACY, RELAPSE PREVENTION, AND DIGITAL LITERACY. COMPLETION OF OUR JOB READINESS CLASSES LEADS TO A STRUCTURED DAY OF INDIVIDUALIZED ASSISTANCE, INCLUDING RESUME DEVELOPMENT, MOCK INTERVIEWING, AND JOB SEARCH PLANNING. (CONTINUED ON SCHEDULE O)DURING CLASS COMPLETION DAY, PROJECT RETURN STAFF EVALUATES AND ADDRESS PARTICIPANTS' IMMEDIATE, CRITICAL NEEDS, PROVIDING WRAPAROUND SUPPORTIVE SERVICES SUCH AS: PURCHASING BIRTH CERTIFICATES AND PHOTO IDS; HOUSING ASSISTANCE IN THE FORM OF REFERRALS; PAYING FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL, AND VISION EXAMS; BUS PASSES AND FOOD BAGS; AND TOOLS AND CLOTHING FOR WORK. ADDITIONAL PROGRAMS AT PROJECT RETURN INCLUDE CHILD SUPPORT SERVICES, JOB RETENTION SERVICES, HARD SKILLS TRAINING COURSES, AND AN ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM.

  Expenses $1,376,162 · Grants $199,470 · Revenue $49,561

• PRO HOUSING: THE TYPICAL HOUSING TRAJECTORY WE SEE FOR OUR PEOPLE IS THAT THEY ARE FORTUNATE TO RESIDE IN TEMPORARY HOUSING FOR THE FIRST FEW MONTHS OF THEIR RELEASE, BUT IT EVENTUALLY COMES TO AN END AND THEY MUST LOOK FOR AFFORDABLE RENTAL OPPORTUNITIES. DESPITE THE FACT THAT THESE INDIVIDUALS EARN SATISFACTORY WAGES AND ARE RELIABLE TAXPAYERS IN OUR COMMUNITY, STIGMA OFTEN LEADS TO EXCLUSION FROM THE PRIVATE MARKET, AS LANDLORDS ARE FREE TO USE CONVICTION HISTORY AS A BASIS FOR REJECTING THEIR APPLICATIONS. IT CAN BE PRACTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR THEM TO GET ON A LEASE, DESPITE THEIR STEADY INCOME, SOLID REFERENCES, CAREFUL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, AND OVERALL WHEREWITHAL. (CONTINUED ON SCHEDULE O)ADDITIONALLY, RESEARCH SHOWS THAT THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN TO PRISON JUST ONCE EXPERIENCE HOMELESSNESS AT A RATE 7 TIMES HIGHER THAN THE GENERAL PUBLIC, WHILE THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN INCARCERATED MULTIPLE TIMES EXPERIENCE HOMELESSNESS AT A RATE 13 TIMES HIGHER THAN THOSE WHO HAVEN'T BEEN INCARCERATED AT ALL. RECOGNIZING THIS SEVERE NEED FOR ACCESSIBLE AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING FOR PEOPLE WITH A CONVICTION HISTORY, AND FOLLOWING THE SUCCESS OF PROE PROJECT RETURN LAUNCHED ITS SECOND SOCIAL ENTERPRISE, PROH (PROJECT RETURN OPPORTUNITIES FOR HOUSING), IN 2017. THROUGH PROH, PROJECT RETURN ACQUIRES AND REHABS MODEST, SCATTERED-SITE (ANTI-ENCLAVE), MULTI-FAMILY PROPERTIES, WHICH ARE AVAILABLE TO RENT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE COME THROUGH PROJECT RETURN'S PROGRAMS. SINCE LAUNCH IN 2017, PROJECT RETURN HAS PURCHASED AND REHABBED 38 UNITS (DUPLEXES AND TRIPLEXES) IN SITES SCATTERED ACROSS NASHVILLE AND CHATTANOOGA FOR RENT TO PEOPLE WHO ARE LEADING SUCCESSFUL NEW LIVES AFTER INCARCERATION. SPEAKING TO THE SUCCESS OF PROH, RECIDIVISM RATES OF OUR PROH TENANTS IS 3% AFTER EIGHT YEARS OF OPERATION. BY PROVIDING SAFE, STABLE, PERMANENT HOUSING, INDIVIDUALS CAN LEAD PRODUCTIVE, SUCCESSFUL LIVES AND LEAVE PRISON BEHIND.

  Expenses $308,631 · Revenue $283,788

• PRO EMPLOYMENT (PROE) AND PRO PROPERTY SOLUTIONS (PROPS): DESPITE INCREASING AWARENESS AND WILLINGNESS OF EMPLOYERS TO HIRE PEOPLE WITH CONVICTION HISTORIES, THERE IS STILL TREMENDOUS RELUCTANCE TO HIRE PEOPLE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THEIR RELEASE FROM INCARCERATION. PROJECT RETURN OFFERS INNOVATIVE, EMPLOYMENT-CREATING SOCIAL ENTERPRISES AS A SOLUTION. PROE (PROJECT RETURN OPPORTUNITIES FOR EMPLOYMENT), LAUNCHED IN 2013, FUNCTIONS AS A TRANSITIONAL JOBS PROGRAM THAT BRIDGES THE GAP BETWEEN INCARCERATION AND EMPLOYMENT. THROUGH PROE, PROJECT RETURN HIRES ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS TEMPORARILY AND PLACES THEM IN JOBS ON THE WORKSITES OF PARTNERING EMPLOYERS. (CONTINUED ON SCHEDULE O)THOSE COMPANIES GAIN MUCH-NEEDED WORKERS, WHILE PROJECT RETURN'S MOTIVATED JOB SEEKERS GAIN AN IMMEDIATE INCOME AND VALUABLE WORK EXPERIENCE, PROPELLING THEM INTO LONG-TERM EMPLOYMENT. PROJECT RETURN OUTFITS THEM FOR THE JOB, AND PROVIDES TRANSITIONAL EMPLOYEES WITH JOB COACHING, TRAINING, TRANSPORTATION, AND WRAPAROUND SUPPORT. THROUGH PROE, OUR PARTICIPANTS GAIN REAL-WORLD WORK EXPERIENCE ON THE JOB, AS WELL AS OUR INDIVIDUALIZED COACHING AND FEEDBACK, TRANSPORTATION, AND OTHER CRITICAL ASSISTANCE, AND PROJECT RETURN GENERATES EARNED INCOME FOR THE OPERATION AND GROWTH OF THIS EMPLOYMENT-CREATING SOCIAL ENTERPRISE.

  Expenses $1,665,516 · Revenue $1,083,211

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.

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. Earlier years are each on their own filing page.

Filings

• 2024

  Revenue

  $4,896,194

  Expenses

  $5,270,091

  Contributions

  $3,470,358

  Grants paid

  $199,470

• 2023

  Revenue

  $6,292,553

  Expenses

  $6,850,380

  Contributions

  $4,126,515

  Grants paid

  $361,628

• 2022

  Revenue

  $7,796,709

  Expenses

  $7,472,033

  Contributions

  $5,950,382

  Grants paid

  $482,843

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

  $9,325,657

  Expenses

  $6,974,804

  Assets (EOY)

  $7,853,062

• 2020 · 990

  Revenue

  $6,857,195

  Expenses

  $4,981,058

  Assets (EOY)

  $5,303,107

• 2019 · 990

  Revenue

  $5,201,310

  Expenses

  $4,376,826

  Assets (EOY)

  $3,389,634

• 2018 · 990

  Revenue

  $3,397,942

  Expenses

  $3,596,139

  Assets (EOY)

  $2,042,792

• 2017 · 990

  Revenue

  $3,593,610

  Expenses

  $2,924,825

  Assets (EOY)

  $2,022,517

• 2016 · 990

  Revenue

  $2,486,407

  Expenses

  $2,167,213

  Assets (EOY)

  $946,643

• 2015 · 990

  Revenue

  $1,730,478

  Expenses

  $1,731,713

  Assets (EOY)

  $428,817

• 2014 · 990

  Revenue

  $1,732,437

  Expenses

  $1,641,120

  Assets (EOY)

  $442,362

• 2013 · 990

  Revenue

  $1,135,380

  Expenses

  $1,085,457

  Assets (EOY)

  $316,828

• 2012 · 990

  Revenue

  — not reported

  Expenses

  $776,346

  Assets (EOY)

  $254,169

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. Showing the 10 most recent; the API carries the rest.

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

• UNITED WAY OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC

  $337,000

  2023 · SUB-RECIPIENT

• UNITED WAY OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC

  $266,552

  2022 · SUB-RECIPIENT

• UNITED WAY OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC

  $175,000

  2024 · PROGRAM OPNS (CIF)

• REDF

  $175,000

  2023 · Growth Portfolio

• UNITED WAY OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC

  $170,000

  2023 · CIF

• WINSTON-SALEM FOUNDATION

  $169,000

  2022 · 1 GRANT(S) FOR VARYING PURPOSES

• UNITED WAY OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC

  $165,000

  2022 · CIF

• UNITED WAY OF GREATER CHATTANOOGA

  $150,000

  2022 · TO PROVIDE SERVICES AND CONNECT PEOPLE WITH RESOURCES NEEDED TO RETURN SUCCESSFULLY TO WORK AFTER INCARTERATION

• UNITED WAY OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC

  $125,000

  2025 · PROGRAM OPNS (CIF)

• REDF

  $100,000

  2022 · Growth Portfolio

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

Taxable family

From Schedule R Parts I, III and IV: entities that legally are the filer, and taxable partnerships, corporations and trusts it is related to. These record ownership and control, not shared board members or money.

Other IRS files