First Place - Phoenix Catalina

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
814899129
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2017
Location
Phoenix, AZ, USA
Phone
6024646600
Rating
60
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Housing Development, Construction, Management

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,391,165
Expenses
$1,372,879
Assets
$12,263,326
Liabilities
$9,846,328

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DENISE D RESNIK (FOUNDER, PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • DENISE D RESNIK (FOUNDER, PRESIDENT & CEO): $319,937 total reported compensation
  • NANCY OTTMANN (COO): $231,768 total reported compensation
  • TOM ORTEGA (DIRECTOR OF MULZET CENTER): $121,900 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

First place - phoenix catalina and its related entities set the standard for developing communities that integrate adults with autism and other neuro-diversities into the fabric of society through housing, healthcare, education, employment, supportive systems and culture.

What it reported doing in 2025

First place - phoenix, catalina (fppc) is a nonprofit organization that operates an 81,000-square-foot, mixed-use property at third and catalina streets in the heart of greater phoenix. Fppc represents a model for replication in other communities across north america. Construction was completed in june 2018 and residents began moving into their new apartments in july 2018. The fppc property includes 63 supportive housing units for the first place apartments, 16 affordable units for the first place transition academy, and office space for the first place global leadership institute for capacity building, research and public policy advancements. Fppc serves as a state-of-the-art center for training, education and programming. The entire fppc property is leased to first place az and first place - phoenix transitional homes, both of which are affiliated nonprofit organizations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Affiliate-supported. 76% of the money available for current operations came from contributions from related organizations.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 89% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 31
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 80
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 14.7%; rating input score 15
  • Program expense ratio: 68.5%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 78.5%; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.93; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.8; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.8%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 23.8% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 14.7% of revenue deployed · 68.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $941K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $320K · 9 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $236K reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2018 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 15/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.