Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Mar 1999.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
77 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
Something off? Claim to add context
Who runs it and what they're paid
31 people listed on the 990; $913K paid to officers and key staff.
Kathleen Caliento’s $271K as President/CEO is at the 61st percentile of top reported officer pay among 414 $10–100M employment nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kathleen Caliento | $270,826 | $263,997 | $261,287 | — | — | — |
| Maria Kim | — | — | — | $114,544 | $218,101 | $214,133 |
| Tara Harper | $196,049 | $181,529 | — | — | — | — |
| Joel Pomerenk | $177,285 | $177,453 | $178,450 | $190,072 | $169,677 | — |
| Lauren Feldman | $178,501 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kimberly Massenburg | $131,739 | $115,248 | — | — | — | — |
| Brady Gott | $130,629 | $121,177 | $111,317 | $105,041 | $108,563 | $106,244 |
| Cheryl Gavin | $121,255 | $114,097 | $105,314 | — | — | — |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
See Cara Program executive salaries →On this list? Claim this org
Something off? Claim to add context
Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2Yes
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Provides transitional jobs, on-the-job training, and intensive support services to help individuals with significant employment barriers, particularly criminal backgrounds, achieve lasting career success.
Questions for Cara Program
Your first name shows with your question. Cara Program answers here, for everyone.
Know this org? Add your story
Traditional Training & Placement Program is Cara's traditional services which includes a comprehensive range of training and support for motivated individuals affected by poverty and homelessness, including life-skills training, specialized job-skills training, and personalized career placement services.South Side Campus (SSC) is Cara's…
TCP Staffing, LLC (TCP Staffing) dba Cara Connects, a wholly owned limited liability company started in 2011, was created to manage employment of individuals in the transitional jobs aspect of Cara Chicago.
Cleanslate Chicago, LLC (Cleanslate), a wholly-owned limited liability company started in 2005, provides exterior maintenance services to customers across Chicago. The program was created as a vehicle for individuals with significant obstacles to employment - particularly individuals with criminal backgrounds to gain on-the-job work…
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2021 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY21 | End FY21 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $5.2M | $5.9M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $5.9M | $5.7M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $13.1M | $14.3M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $4.6M | $3.7M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $8.5M | $10.6M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $171K | $171K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $418K | $253K | $77K | $87K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $7.0M | $5.6M | $763K | $625K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $96K | $56K | $25K | $15K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $619K | $494K | $57K | $68K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $594K | $483K | $60K | $51K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $25K | $25K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $122K | $94K | $1K | $26K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $36K | $20K | $4K | $13K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $274K | $158K | $66K | $49K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $475K | $390K | $47K | $38K |
| TravelLn 17 | $15K | $12K | $1K | $2K |
| InterestLn 20 | $97K | $63K | $18K | $16K |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $413K | $171K | $201K | $41K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $120K | $106K | $7K | $6K |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $442K | $358K | $36K | $48K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $85K | $37K | $37K | $11K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $11.0M | $8.5M | $1.4M | $1.1M |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $20.9M | $16.6M | $4.3M | $22.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $22.8M | $15.4M | $7.3M | $17.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $12.7M | $12.7M | $429 | $10.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $11.7M | $11.8M | −$123K | $10.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 Viewing | $13.0M | $11.0M | $2.0M | $10.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $11.4M | $11.0M | $395K | $8.5M | 990 PDF |
More to add? Claim this org
Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2021 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $12,971,021 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 24 of 24 board members independent, 1 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $12,971,021 across 10 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $10,991,144 across 17 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $14,262,035 assets, 16 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $10,568,269 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2021 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
Similar organizations you could support · Compare with another nonprofit
Names, privacy, and removal requests More
The names, titles, and compensation shown on this page are reproduced from IRS Form 990 filings, which are public records.
Philanthropy.org does not alter the content of those filings. All information appears exactly as reported by the filing organization for the tax year shown.
We publish only information contained in the public IRS filing — and less than the filing contains. Our profile pages do not display street addresses, telephone numbers, personal email addresses, or other personal contact information, even where the filing includes them.
Many people share the same name. A name shown on this page reflects only what one organization reported in one IRS filing for one tax year. It should not be interpreted as identifying any other individual with the same or a similar name.
If you are no longer affiliated with the organization, your name will generally stop appearing in future IRS filings once the organization no longer reports you. Pages for tax years in which you were reported remain published because those filings remain part of the public record.
Philanthropy.org does not alter or remove IRS filing records. Removing a page from this website would not remove the underlying IRS filing, which remains publicly available from the IRS and other publishers of the same information.
If you believe the IRS filing itself is inaccurate, corrections must be made by the filing organization or the IRS directly.
Your org? Add context
Made it to the end? Claim this org