Friedman Place
Legal name: Maplewood Housing for Visually Impaired D/b/a Friedman Place
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 300246731
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Chicago, IL, United States
- Phone
- 773-989-9800
- Rating
- 70
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Housing Development, Construction, Management
- Affiliation
- Judaism
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $5,707,322
- Expenses
- $5,466,102
- Assets
- $7,378,581
- Liabilities
- $300,744
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
17 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- IAN KAY (PRESIDENT)
- PAUL RINK (VICE PRESIDENT)
- ALEXANDER BROWN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- ALEXANDER BROWN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $204,256 total reported compensation
- RITA SCALETTA (CHIEF OF OPERATION AND FINANCE): $136,180 total reported compensation
- CHRISTIAN ZAPATA (DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS & SERVICES): $109,415 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Friedman Place is a nonprofit Supportive Living Community for adults who are blind. We provide housing and supportive services that emphasize self-determination, independence, and interaction within the community. A large building on the west side of Chicago was obtained which became “Kagan Home.” It provided housing and support to 36 adults. The agency also began providing a wide range of nursing and recreational services. The agency continued to grow over the years. 2005: Friedman Place opened as the current modern Supportive Living Community, on the northwest side of Chicago, that we are today. The agency acquired and renovated an adjacent building. The “Annex” building contains offices and our large Therapeutic Weaving Studio on the first floor, and a Transitional Living Program on the second floor. 2019: Friedman Place expanded beyond its doors and into the community for the...
What it reported doing in 2024
The organization provides a supportive living program for the visually impaired.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 89% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 72
- Transparency & Controls: 65
- Accountability: 72
- Sustainability: 50
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 80.8%; rating input score 81
- Program expense ratio: 81.1%; rating input score 81
- Fundraising efficiency: $1.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
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: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 4.2%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.35; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 8.2%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 80.8% of revenue deployed · 81.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $204K · 17 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 9 not reported.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 4/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 48/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.