Dallas Life 
The information on this page was last updated 7/22/2026. If you see errors or omissions, please email: [email protected]
Summary
Dallas Life is the largest homeless shelter in North Texas, housing up to 500 people per night.
Contact information
Mailing address:
Dallas Life
1100 Cadiz St.
Dallas, TX 75215
Website: dallaslife.org
Phone: 214-421-1380
Email: [email protected]
Organization details
EIN: 752336522
CEO/President: Rev. Robert Sweeney
Chairman: Arlan Harris
Board size: 12
Founder: Robert J. Key
Ruling year: 1995
Tax deductible: Yes
Fiscal year end: 12/31
Member of ECFA: Yes
Member of ECFA since: 2000
Purpose
Dallas LIFE welcomes the needy. Whether it is a homeless man, a single mother with children, or an entire family, Dallas LIFE is a safe place to recover from the trauma of homelessness. Some come beaten and bruised; others addicted and confused. All need a fresh start and a loving hand-up. At Dallas LIFE we meet these needs every day!
Mission statement
Dallas LIFE is a place where homeless men, women and children can receive help and hope during their time of need.
Dallas LIFE is a path to recovery and self-sufficient living.
Dallas LIFE is a promise that there is a way to begin again.
Statement of faith
From daily chapel services to Sunday worship to prayer meetings and Bible study, Dallas LIFE touches each resident with the truths that:
- God knows and loves each one of us personally.
- Each one of us falls short of God's standard because of our sin.
- God sent Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for our falling short.
- We can be restored to God and have eternal life in heaven by accepting what Jesus gave for us.
We believe so strongly that healing spiritually is the basis for whole-person recovery, we have a full-time chaplain on our staff who interacts with each resident and directs our spiritual program.
Articles
Donor confidence score
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Transparency grade
C
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Financial efficiency ratings
Sector: Rescue Missions/Homeless Shelters
| Category | Rating | Overall rank | Sector rank |
| Overall efficiency rating | | 629 of 1479 | 73 of 167 |
| Fund acquisition rating | | 343 of 1479 | 31 of 167 |
| Resource allocation rating | | 652 of 1479 | 65 of 167 |
| Asset utilization rating | | 1067 of 1480 | 132 of 167 |
According to the organization's Form 990, it received $621,368 in government grants in 2025.
To understand our financial efficiency ratings, click here.
Financial ratios
| Funding ratios | Sector median | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
Return on fundraising efforts Return on fundraising efforts = Fundraising expense / Total contributions | 10% | 3% | 13% | 20% | 16% | 12% |
Fundraising cost ratio Fundraising cost ratio = Fundraising expense / Total revenue | 8% | 3% | 11% | 8% | 14% | 12% |
Contributions reliance Contributions reliance = Total contributions / Total revenue | 93% | 87% | 82% | 37% | 84% | 94% |
Fundraising expense ratio Fundraising expense ratio = Fundraising expense / Total expenses | 9% | 7% | 13% | 12% | 11% | 15% |
Other revenue reliance Other revenue reliance = Total other revenue / Total revenue | 7% | 13% | 18% | 63% | 16% | 6% |
| Operating ratios | Sector median | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
Program expense ratio Program expense ratio = Program services / Total expenses | 81% | 86% | 80% | 80% | 83% | 75% |
Spending ratio Spending ratio = Total expenses / Total revenue | 96% | 40% | 87% | 62% | 127% | 79% |
Program output ratio Program output ratio = Program services / Total revenue | 78% | 34% | 69% | 50% | 105% | 59% |
Savings ratio Savings ratio = Surplus (deficit) / Total revenue | 4% | 60% | 13% | 38% | -27% | 21% |
Reserve accumulation rate Reserve accumulation rate = Surplus (deficit) / Net assets | 3% | 35% | 6% | 25% | -11% | 8% |
General and admin ratio General and admin ratio = Management and general expense / Total expenses | 9% | 7% | 8% | 8% | 6% | 10% |
| Investing ratios | Sector median | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
Total asset turnover Total asset turnover = Total expenses / Total assets | 0.54 | 0.21 | 0.34 | 0.35 | 0.43 | 0.25 |
Degree of long-term investment Degree of long-term investment = Total assets / Total current assets | 3.09 | 2.21 | 1.80 | 1.92 | 2.67 | 2.41 |
Current asset turnover Current asset turnover = Total expenses / Total current assets | 2.11 | 0.47 | 0.61 | 0.67 | 1.14 | 0.60 |
| Liquidity ratios | Sector median | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
Current ratio Current ratio = Total current assets / Total current liabilities | 10.28 | 5.08 | 4.52 | 3.97 | 2.26 | 2.78 |
Current liabilities ratio Current liabilities ratio = Total current liabilities / Total current assets | 0.09 | 0.20 | 0.22 | 0.25 | 0.44 | 0.36 |
Liquid reserve level Liquid reserve level = (Total current assets - Total current liabilities) / (Total expenses / 12) | 5.09 | 20.41 | 15.28 | 13.34 | 5.87 | 12.88 |
| Solvency ratios | Sector median | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
Liabilities ratio Liabilities ratio = Total liabilities / Total assets | 9% | 9% | 13% | 14% | 18% | 15% |
Debt ratio Debt ratio = Debt / Total assets | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Reserve coverage ratio Reserve coverage ratio = Net assets / Total expenses | 149% | 425% | 257% | 246% | 193% | 343% |
Financials
| Balance sheet | |||||
| Assets | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Cash | $8,130,577 | $6,576,666 | $5,892,416 | $2,423,730 | $3,206,719 |
| Receivables, inventories, prepaids | $2,656,544 | $2,336,666 | $2,052,861 | $2,053,192 | $2,124,956 |
| Short-term investments | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Other current assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total current assets | $10,787,121 | $8,913,332 | $7,945,277 | $4,476,922 | $5,331,675 |
| Long-term investments | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Fixed assets | $490,250 | $394,911 | $564,963 | $708,643 | $863,753 |
| Other long-term assets | $12,537,965 | $6,730,831 | $6,758,529 | $6,784,360 | $6,647,150 |
| Total long-term assets | $13,028,215 | $7,125,742 | $7,323,492 | $7,493,003 | $7,510,903 |
| Total assets | $23,815,336 | $16,039,074 | $15,268,769 | $11,969,925 | $12,842,578 |
| Liabilities | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Payables and accrued expenses | $324,229 | $169,875 | $200,255 | $183,386 | $117,133 |
| Other current liabilities | $1,800,000 | $1,800,000 | $1,800,000 | $1,800,000 | $1,800,000 |
| Total current liabilities | $2,124,229 | $1,969,875 | $2,000,255 | $1,983,386 | $1,917,133 |
| Debt | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Due to (from) affiliates | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Other long-term liabilities | $55,049 | $83,681 | $111,380 | $137,210 | $0 |
| Total long-term liabilities | $55,049 | $83,681 | $111,380 | $137,210 | $0 |
| Total liabilities | $2,179,278 | $2,053,556 | $2,111,635 | $2,120,596 | $1,917,133 |
| Net assets | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Without donor restrictions | $14,886,686 | $13,656,449 | $12,710,885 | $9,491,574 | $10,679,621 |
| With donor restrictions | $6,749,372 | $329,069 | $446,249 | $357,755 | $245,824 |
| Net assets | $21,636,058 | $13,985,518 | $13,157,134 | $9,849,329 | $10,925,445 |
| Revenues and expenses | |||||
| Revenue | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Total contributions | $11,037,312 | $5,131,307 | $3,194,623 | $3,366,629 | $3,815,407 |
| Program service revenue | $833,510 | $568,007 | $642,094 | $473,006 | $87,794 |
| Membership dues | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Investment income | $733,513 | $328,926 | $4,672,934 | $71,952 | $68,391 |
| Other revenue | $140,513 | $252,306 | $145,214 | $108,513 | $73,047 |
| Total other revenue | $1,707,536 | $1,149,239 | $5,460,242 | $653,471 | $229,232 |
| Total revenue | $12,744,848 | $6,280,546 | $8,654,865 | $4,020,100 | $4,044,639 |
| Expenses | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Program services | $4,359,403 | $4,340,831 | $4,284,487 | $4,218,283 | $2,393,249 |
| Management and general | $380,401 | $427,068 | $412,610 | $325,914 | $314,840 |
| Fundraising | $354,504 | $684,263 | $649,963 | $552,019 | $473,538 |
| Total expenses | $5,094,308 | $5,452,162 | $5,347,060 | $5,096,216 | $3,181,627 |
| Change in net assets | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Surplus (deficit) | $7,650,540 | $828,384 | $3,307,805 | ($1,076,116) | $863,012 |
| Other changes in net assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total change in net assets | $7,650,540 | $828,384 | $3,307,805 | ($1,076,116) | $863,012 |
Compensation
| Name | Title | Compensation |
| Reverend Robert Sweeney | Officer | $198,991 |
Compensation data as of: 12/31/2025
Response from ministry
No response has been provided by this ministry.
The information below was provided to MinistryWatch by the ministry itself. It was last updated 7/22/2026. To update the information below, please email: [email protected]
History
The story of Dallas LIFE starts with a man named Reverend Robert J. Key, one of the founders of the Union Gospel Mission in 1949. With Dallas' homeless population growing in the post war years, Reverend Key left UGM to begin establishing the Dallas Rescue Mission. It was this endeavor that would become Dallas LIFE, now the largest homeless shelter in North Texas.
Dallas Rescue Mission opened its doors in 1954 in a small storefront location on Commerce Street. The first location was just a few blocks from the city jail and housed 25 men each night. There, Rev. Key would minister to the men who came to him nightly for shelter and a hot meal. Rev. Key and his volunteers kept the shelter open every night for the next 25 years.
In early 1979, Rev. Key's health began to fail, so he asked Reverend James Starkes of Jupiter Road Baptist Church to lead the Dallas Rescue Mission. Rev. Starkes moved the Mission just a few doors down on the same street into a larger building, where they could shelter 80 men every night. Less than a year later, the facilities were expanded to be able to house 25 women and children. The Dallas Rescue Mission became known as a lighthouse of Christian love, Bible teaching, and offered addiction recovery and job training to help its residents experience total life restoration.
By 1981 the Mission had become much more than a shelter - it was also a church, school, and recovery center. Appropriately, the Board of Trustees voted in 1981 to officially change the name to Dallas LIFE.
In 1983, Dallas LIFE moved to the former Koone-McNatt Warehouse on Cadiz Street, where it could house significantly more residents than ever before - up to 500 per night. First Baptist Dallas took the ministry under its wing in 1990.
Reverend Ray Bailey served as Executive Director from 1999-2005. Under his leadership, Dallas LIFE continued to grow, adding a computer school and GED education. Long-term programs were developed for senior citizens and those with slight mental illness issues.
In 2005 Rev. Bob Sweeney brought his 20 years of ministerial experience to Dallas LIFE. Having pastored a church and serving as head chaplain in a maximum-security prison, Rev. Sweeney had transitioned into homeless ministry seven years before as Executive Director of Carriage Town Ministries, associated with Gospel Rescue Mission. He developed and implemented the 10-month New LIFE Program, which produces around 50 "graduates" each year who are recovered from addiction, restored with family members, and have jobs and housing. Rev. Sweeney's healthy balance of accountability and compassion challenges each resident to settle for nothing less than a self-sufficient life - and to find joy in the journey.
Now a fully thriving independent non-profit organization with a richly blessed history, Dallas LIFE is help and hope for all those we serve.
Program accomplishments
Needs
DALLAS LIFE is a 501(c)(3) non-profit agency. We depend completely on support from generous individuals like you, foundations, corporations and churches. All donations to Dallas Life are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.