2024-02-19T16:21:05-07:00 2023-12-31 990EZ 2023-01-01 472171861 REAL LIFE SKILLS INC REAL 6199211139 655 India St Unit 306 San Diego CA 92101 Richard Karlson President 6199211139 2024-02-19 Richard Karlson 999009999 1 1 11 1 AAL2 2023 2023-04-26 12:10:37Z X reallifeskills.org X X 50850 X 50850 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 50850 0 0 40802 2606 800 368 7861 52437 -1587 76714 0 75127 X 76887 75558 0 0 520 242 77407 75800 693 673 76714 75127 X Our purpose is to restore hope to those dealing with life challenges, resurrect lost self-esteem, and re-ignite the desire to become the best version of themselves. We do this by teaching a self-improvement program in eight dynamic one hour classes on the power of thinking and provide a clear understanding of how life choices are made. This introduces a new valuable education experience, utilizing the cognitive behavior theory approach for those in need focused on developing a new mindset that can provide a path to a better life. Our strategic focus is directed to help agencies that serve the homeless, the homeless in transition, parolees, drug & alcohol recovery, transitional youth, and low -income families seeking better job opportunities. See Schedule O for Service Accomplishments 0 52437 52437 Richard Karlson President 24 0 0 0 Susan Zlaket Secretary 2 0 0 0 Robinson Devadhason Treasurer 2 0 0 0 James Robins Executive Director, Program Director & Facilitator 24 37500 0 0 Bruce Menser Board member 1 0 0 0 Raul Palomino Board Member 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 CA Richard Karlson 655 India St Unit 306 San Diego CA 92101 6199211139 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 NONE NONE 1 X 33650 26455 43630 39650 27600 170985 54688 76770 63400 6245 0 201103 23250 23250 88338 103225 107030 45895 50850 395338 54688 76770 63400 6245 0 201103 54688 76770 63400 6245 0 201103 194235 88338 103225 107030 45895 50850 395338 0.49131 0.42112 0 0 X RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED Form 990-EZ, Part I, Line 16 Description;Amount^Insurance;3497|Compute and Internet services;4192|Office expenses;147|Business Licenses;25^Total;7861^ Form 990-EZ, Part II, Line 24 Description;EOY Amount^Workman's Comp Deposit;242^Total;242^ Form 990-EZ, Part II, Line 26 Description;EOY Amount^Payroll taxes;673^Total;673^ Form 990-EZ, Part III, Line (28-31) 2023 Accomplishments: 1. We now have two active Life Skills Programs; a Secular Life Skills Course and a Faith Development Life Skills Course. Customers can choose their course, or even participate in both courses if they wish. The basic curriculum is the same with scripture content added to create a more faith-based experience for those desiring a spiritual connection. 2. In October we signed an agreement with Hope for Housing Foundation (HTHF), the non-profit arm of National CORE Renaissance, one of the largest non-profit affordable housing development corporations in the United States. They have more than 9,000 affordable housing units in five states. HTHF is a major provider of Permanent Supportive Housing in the San Diego. We are pleased to be partnering with HTHF by providing coaching and life skills services to participants in their Collaborative Housing Retention Intervention Program (CHRIP). 3. We recently received news that we will be offered a new two-year contract with the San Diego Housing Commission to provide our Online Life Skills Course with Coaching, in both individual and group settings. This a special workforce initiative grant that will serve two training groups of 20 youth per year, or 80 over the two-year program. The end goal for the program is for participants to earn Medical Assistant certification at the end of the program. Our role is to help the participants increase their life skills competencies and to provide coaching and support on a 1-1 and group setting, to provide support throughout the certification program. 4. We continue to partner with and develop programs for Project W.E.S.T., a Transformation Living Program providing housing and drug and alcohol sober living support services East County. 5. East County Transitional Living Center (ECTLC) is a premier transitional housing facility in El Cajon. We have met the CEO to discuss the potential for collaboration. She immediately understood our cognitive behavior approach and expressed her enthusiastic interest in both courses and wants to partner with Real Life Skills at ECTLC. 6. The Faith Life Skills Course was first introduced and developed for the Wednesday Ladle Bible Study and Fellowship offered by the First Presbyterian Church of San Diego. The Ladle Director has since resigned and the program is on hold until a new Director is hired. In the meantime, the Choir director, has expressed an interest in the Faith program for his homeless choir. The Ladle experience allowed us to pilot the Faith program and to develop and test out the curriculum. We now can use that curriculum with other service providers. A New Chapter for Real Life Skills Our research this year provided important learnings to jumpstart our programs. We have learned from our customers and advisors that we needed to: 1. Provide facilitators and coaches for our Online Life Skills courses. Since COVID it has been a challenge to replicate the success of the live in- person classes via a virtual platform. While agencies recognize the importance of Life Skills education for its clients, there are some challenges that require discipline and the need to coaching and the fostering of encouragement throughout the curriculum which can be a barrier for some in completing the course or for maximizing its benefit. In most cases it is offered as choice and needs to be reinforced with facilitators who are former graduates of the program, that can explain the benefits from taking the course. In time, and with proper training, it is our belief that program graduates from agencies having lived experiences will become the best facilitators and coaches. 2. Offer Customized content to meet the diverse needs of the populations we serve. This content will be further developed as we start providing services to various populations and are able to better assess the needs of each population. We anticipate there will be unique differences between transitional age youth (TAY), seniors, those with substance abuse histories, chronically homeless and veterans. Some might benefit more from the Secular versus Faith based curricula. For example, participants in the CHRIP permanent supportive housing programs often struggle with managing their finances, behaviors relating to their mental health, or lack the understanding of what it takes to be a good tenant and neighbor. Transitional Youth need consistent support and training for and access to jobs. Seniors may need to learn how to use computers. We expect to play an important role in identifying, developing or partnering with other providers, to deliver the content that will help each person have success. This information will also help us develop our program offerings and position Real Life Skills to be competitive for funding opportunities. This year we integrated our core curriculum and coaching program using software technology that has the capability to link real time live coaching with a program coach, to participants to enhance their life skills learning experience. We have also added QR codes for students to have easy access to our courses. It is these changes that have made it possible to attract our new customers and to provide a better array of services that are more likely to meet each participant's needs. We continue to work with agencies that serve individuals, transition aged youth, and families who are homeless, in transition, participating in drug & alcohol rehabilitation, and those living in poverty, seeking better job opportunities. We seek to collaborate with organizations that recognize the importance of educating clients in life skills, using cognitive behavior theory to disrupt negative thought patterns, and those willing to offer an ongoing educational program for their clients. Our goals for 2024 are: 1. Have a successful implementation of our Life Skills program with coaching with our new major customers, which will provide $40,000 annually in revenue, to serve 32 students. 2. Add part-time staffing resources of Coaches and Facilitators. James Robins, our Executive Director will be hiring and leading a team of former graduates as coaches. 3. Pursue collaboration with agencies that include Urban Street Angels, City Tree School, Walk with me Program, and Be a Friend program. 4. Continue to develop program services and components