The Rest of the Story
Closing a few loops, quick-hits style:
- The Red Cross would like you to know that while Mark Everson nearly destroyed the charity, he did it in a very efficient way in which no donor dollars were used in his pursuit of inappropriate activities;
- In this eloquent piece, a man writes persuasively that no one should ever give to the police charities that call you on the phone. So what, you might say, you say that all the time, Trent? Yeah, but this guy started saying it five years ago. And he's a cop.
- I wrote about Boston's Citi Center this summer and said they were "out of control." The AG of Massachusetts decided this week that they might have been playing a bit fast and loose with the rules, but that they didn't break any laws. Of course, that's mainly because there aren't any laws governing non-profits...;
- One of the six mega-churches asked by Senator Grassley to document their expenditures, compensation, and benefits has complied. One. And there's not a damn thing Grassley can do about it.
- In a related story, Jerry Falwell, Jr. doesn't think non-profit laws apply to him either. I'll wait patiently for the IRS to investigate his group, like they did the L.A. churches last year.
Labels: Charles Grassley, Citi Center, Everson, Jerry Falwell, mega-churches, police charities, Red Cross, Slate
posted by Trent Stamp at 2:08 PM
6 Comments:
Just a note, you might want to add "Jr." after the Falwell. Totally freaked me out--I thought I'd completely imagined Jerry Falwell being dead and wondered what kind of sick person I was. ;) *whew*
Fixed. Thanks.
Have you done an analysis of the Harvard University Art Museums as a charity or would you just consider it to be an integral part of Harvard itself?
Trent, here's my update on Red Cross -- hope you're enjoying your time off. Happy Holidays!
Red Cross in Red Hot Seat Again: 100 Woes, by Kirby Sommers
Program Allegedly Misappropriated Katrina funds
A Red Cross program, 100 Homes in 100 Days, formed to address the biggest issue remaining in Katrina recovery: affordable housing for families impacted by Hurricane Katrina in Pascagoula, Mississippi is being accused of alleged mismanagement of funds, poor oversight, and defrauding dozens of unsuspecting families.
A Red Cross Press Release dated March 26, 2007 states:
“Five organizations lead a coalition effort to renovate and rebuild 100 homes in 100 calendar days. The American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Mississippi Home Again, Hope Has a Face Foundation and Jackson County Community Services Coalition have created a project process that focuses on rebuilding entire neighborhoods in a compressed timeframe.”
“I believe there’s collusion on the part of Mark Everson and Paige Roberts on the 100/100 program,” one recovery specialist, who wishes to remain anonymous, told me during a recent interview.
You read it right: that would be the same Mark Everson who just got canned from the Red Cross and the same Paige Roberts who was named as Everson’s married mistress who happens to be CEO of the Southeast Mississippi Red Cross chapter.
The recovery specialist added, “Working with the Long Term Recovery Committee we have roundtable meetings and everyone has oversight. Except for Paige, she told us she had been given a waiver from the national office, so all they did was ask for money with just the person’s name, no receipts, no paperwork, and got as much as $30,000.00 for each home.”
According to an article in the Mississippi Press dated July 5, 2007, the project ended on the 4th of July with only 65 homes completed.
Jim Yancey of the Jackson County Community Services Coalition is quoted in the article as saying “We will finish all 100 homes.”
Here’s where we can start dissecting this. First, it is not 100 homes, the real number of homes in the project is 99. At some point someone decided 100 was better for generating publicity and it became known as the 100 Homes 100 Days Project.
100/100, as it is referred to within the agencies, was funded through the Red Cross’s Means to Recovery program (another heavily criticized Red Cross Katrina help project) allotting a cap of $20,000 to be used per home. The Salvation Army added another $10,000.
The money, according to some of the people working on hurricane relief, is all gone. But none of the families in the homes that have yet to be finished know their portion of the money has been used up.
“Where is the money?” A second recovery specialist, also wishing to remain anonymous, murmured. “If you request funding once, you can’t go back and ask for more funding. You have to follow the proper channels and that wasn’t done. The Red Cross broke its own rules. All of us have to follow Red Cross’s rules. But not Paige.”
Add to this the concern that none of the families were given a case worker, although each one was assigned one with Red Cross. And then there’s the extra money Roberts is reported to have received from national headquarters in Washington, D.C. to hire more case workers.
If none of the families knew they had a case worker, allegations of them not knowing how much money was requested to make the necessary repairs to their home, or how their allocated money was spent would mean required documentation, as is the norm, would have been disregarded.
“You can’t draw $30,000 for someone’s home and put $5,000 of it in that home and then use the other $25,000 somewhere else. And the Red Cross did that in every case that I can think of!” A former relief group director, who also wishes to remain anonymous exclaimed. “I have relatives that have a home in that area and I haven’t disclosed this to them because I don’t know what to do after that. There was no accountability, no oversight.”
To make matters worse, Roberts has allegedly tapped into all existing funds available for every home in the 100 day 100 home project.
There has been talk of getting another big name nonprofit to come in and finish the job, but all parties are concerned they won’t be able to do this without exposing misappropriated donor dollars on the part of Paige Roberts and the Red Cross.
Accountability and disrespect for donor dollars is at the heart of the matter. The Red Cross, despite its countless debacles and cries from the public for transparency, continues to operate with virtually no oversight.
On December 7th just days after firing Mark Everson the American Red Cross quietly stated they found no financial wrongdoing on the part of their ousted Chief Executive Officer.
According to Carrie Martin, a Red Cross spokeswoman, the review of Mr. Everson’s spending focused on travel costs and expenses reports. It was conducted in-house by the charity’s office of investigations, compliance and ethics, under the direction of the general counsel.
A forensic audit was supposed to have taken place. These types of audits aren’t usually concluded as quickly as Everson’s was. No documentation was ever produced to the public, nor is any forthcoming.
And how is it that CEOs of large organizations and politicians caught with their pants down normally get ravaged by the media with their follies as front page fodder for days, even months on end but this juicy tidbit within the largest nonprofit on the planet, gets only three mentions in the press? One of which was local.
The buzz stayed on the internet.
With the media protecting the Red Cross and not caring enough to cover any more Katrina related topics, thank goodness for outlets like blogs and news forums and online publications. Which, of course, leads to more revelations…
Did I mention Everson sent his daughter to stay in Roberts home for three weeks to work as an interim during the summer? Hmmm….
And, as for whether or not Mrs. Roberts, who is now expecting Everson’s child will get fired or not – seems she’s got the upper hand.
It is rumored the Board of Directors have requested her resignation, among other things. But the Mississippi Queen has no intention of going anywhere anytime soon. Someone is stepping down, but it isn’t Paige Roberts. Off with their heads, the Queen has commanded.
Kirby Sommers
100 Homes in 100 Days: Red Cross Red-Handed, by Kirby Sommers
Information about stolen and misappropriated Katrina donations continues to pour in -- almost as quickly as those donations did more than two years ago.
A SNAPSHOT:
Regarding new revelations, watch out for the names Jim Yancey and Keith Canfield: originators of the 100 Homes in 100 Days program. "A total scam," several sources have repeatedly said of the program.
"Both these guys are now frantically trying to finish the 100 Home Project because of the scrutiny you have generated." Another source wishing to remain anonymous confided in me.
Paige Roberts, pregnant paramour of axed CEO Mark Everson, is in no way cleared of alleged misuse of donations. Fingers continue to point in her direction, along with others who worked with this program.
Questions and answers swirl much like the hurricane which preceded these allegations.
Did Paige Roberts have an affair with Jim Yancey before she moved on to deeper and better known pockets belonging to Mark Everson?
Did Paige Roberts attempt to funnel Katrina donations through Jim Yancey's organization http://jccsc.org/ ?
Does Yancey's organization have any oversight?
Is Keith Canfield the same Keith Canfield who was sued for committing real estate fraud in Tennessee?
Does Keith Canfield through his organization "Hope has a Face," actually want to bring hope to a people forgotten; or has he used this as yet another way to milk money?
Why has the Red Cross given Yancey even more money in the form of "Mental Health" dollars? Is this yet something else we can thank Paige Roberts for?
Who's afraid of Roberts and her cohorts? Apparently, many people are: national headquarters included. People who have worked close to the situation have said Red Cross is letting her stay on for fear of reprisal in the form of a lawsuit. Don't forget she's preggers and it all happened on ARC's time and Katrina's dime.
A more detailed version of this will follow. For now, I think you've got some more Red Cross dirt to chew on.
Kirby Sommers
2007 Copyright
It is funny to me that your only information comes from previously affiliated people who wish to remain anonymous. hmmm...Isn't that convenient?
Jackson County is blessed to have someone like Jim Yancey looking out for them. He was on the ground the day after Katrina going door to door using his own resources to help the people of our community both physically and emotionally. You are way off the mark with this one. You should consider rechecking your so-called sources.
Suddenly you are surprised that he is doing Mental Health Work? DO YOUR HOMEWORK!
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