Freedom Life Ministries

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
461322178
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Marion, NC, USA
Phone
8285592224
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Rehabilitation Services for Offenders

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,980,241
Expenses
$1,365,127
Assets
$2,830,504
Liabilities
$42,358

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Danny Hampton (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Danny Hampton (Executive Director): $65,860 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Freedom Life is a faith-based nonprofit grounded in values of restoration and accountability helping justice involved individuals and their families break the cycle of incarceration. We provide inclusive evidence-informed support to justice-involved people to help them achieve long-term stability. FL offers two service tracks to ensure care is accessible respectful and effective for everyone we serve. The Personal Development Track non-faith-based provides evidence-based services focused on behavioral change life skills employment readiness and successful community reintegration. The Faith-Based Track includes all core services with the additional of optional spiritual support pastoral care and opportunities for faith-centered growth and connection. With a 15% recidivism rate well below the state and national average of 44% Freedom Life demonstrates the power of consistent community-based support.

What it reported doing in 2025

Freedom Life Ministries FL provides comprehensive reentry services to justice-involved individuals across Western North Carolina with a focus on reducing recidivism stabilizing individuals and families and strengthening community outcomes. In 2025 FL served 967 individuals including 745 in McDowell County 121 in Avery County and 101 in Yancey County. Participants face significant barriers to successful reintegration including substance use disorders housing instability limited transportation and lack of employment opportunities. Through its integrated service model FL achieved a recidivism rate of approximately 14% among participants significantly below typical state and national benchmarks. FL delivered 8,568 service instances during the year including case management mentoring recovery support employment readiness and coordination with community partners. Transportation remains a critical component of service delivery in rural areas; FL provided 32,190 miles of transportation to ensure access to court appointments treatment services employment and other essential resources. Pre-release engagement is a core component of FLs model. In 2025 FL processed 229 jail-based applications including 160 in McDowell County 42 in Avery County and 27 in Yancey County. Within local detention centers FL provided structured programming to address criminogenic risk factors. A total of 128 individuals 72 men and 56 women participated in jail-based support groups while 24 individuals 13 men and 11 women participated in cognitive behavioral classes. Additionally FL provided 420 hours of mentoring within the jail setting to support reentry planning and behavior change. FL also conducted outreach efforts designed to build engagement and provide encouragement to incarcerated individuals. In 2025 FL distributed gift bags and conducted jail outreach for 300 individuals in McDowell County 80 in Avery County and 40 in Yancey County. The organization also provided 600 hot meals to inmates at Marion Correctional Institution supporting both basic needs and relationship-building with individuals preparing for reentry. Housing stability is a key determinant of successful reentry. In 2025 FL provided housing support to 175 individuals in McDowell County. To expand capacity and address regional housing shortages for justice-involved individuals FL is developing transitional housing infrastructure across its service area. In Avery Yancey and Mitchell counties FL is developing two 20-bed short-term stage-one transitional housing facilities one for men and one for women a 24-unit long-term stage-two transitional housing apartment complex and a community services delivery building. In McDowell County FL is developing two 20-bed short-term stage-one transitional housing facilities for men one for women a 44-unit long-term transitional housing apartment complex and a centralized community services delivery building to support integrated service provision. FL serves as the Local Reentry Council LRC Intermediary Agency for Avery McDowell Mitchell and Yancey counties facilitating coordination among community partners service providers and government agencies. FL also serves as a state reentry liaison supporting alignment between local communities and the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction to ensure continuity of care for individuals transitioning from incarceration to community-based services. Through direct services system coordination and infrastructure development FL continues to reduce recidivism improve individual outcomes and strengthen communities across Western North Carolina.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 63% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 70
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 62.6%; rating input score 63
  • Program expense ratio: 90.8%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $27.66 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 84.6%; rating input score 85; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 31.1%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.07; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.8%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 26.4% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 62.6% of revenue deployed · 90.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $66K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 44 current checks pass · 3 findings to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX OtherSalariesAndWages column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 51/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.