"We discovered through our investigation that Providence was defrauding the city by submitting false invoices and as a result over $100,000 dollars of public monies that were supposed to benefit individuals experiencing homelessness were not being used for their proper purpose and has disappeared," said Chiu.
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San Francisco city attorney David Chiu said their findings are just the beginning of their push for accountability.
Multiple fake invoices collecting more than $100K led San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu to take action against Providence Foundation
"Our office is going to be seeking the debarment and suspension of a nonprofit called Providence Foundation. Providence Foundation for a number of years has been providing services to the city to address the needs of families who are homeless," said Chiu.
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The invoices were submitted in 2022 for painting of the exterior of the Oasis Hotel and the removal of locks at the hotel. The city's attorney's office discovered that work was never done.
"Our action today starts the process to insure that providence is not able to apply for future contracts. It is up to the city as we are reviewing this if the current contracts would end," said Chiu.
Providence Foundation operates the Oasis Hotel a shelter for families experiencing homelessness.
Providence receives city funds to operate a navigation center, as well as multiple housing subsidy and voucher programs. For years they have received grants through the city's department of homelessness and supportive housing.
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In a statement the city's department said in part:
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"HSH will be reviewing each contract on a program-by-program basis to determine the best way to continue seamless services for the guests and tenants in these programs."
"I think it's very unfortunate the nonprofit contractors do wrong to the city but I think it's almost foreseeable when you have the avalanche of new programs and new contractors coming in and the city wanting to get more contractors involved and not really scrutinize those," said Randy Shaw, Director Tenderloin Housing Clinic.
Shaw, Director Tenderloin Housing Clinic the leading provider of permanent supportive housing for homeless single adults in San Francisco is concerned about what these findings will mean for other nonprofits like his.
"Social media is filled with tweets about corrupt nonprofits in the homeless sector but reality is that there are a lot of nonprofits involved and these are still a small number and they give us all a bad name. It's really unfortunate," said Shaw.
Our Data Team found that San Francisco has awarded over $213 million to nonprofits in the housing and homelessness sector for contracts starting in 2023 to present.
The city attorney's office said they will continue their investigation
"Our office we will continue to root out bad actors who take advantage of our public resources we will fine you. We will cut off your funding and hold you accountable," said Chiu.
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We went to the Providence Foundation office for comment and their staff closed their doors. At the time of the publication of this article Providence Foundation did not respond.
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HSH Full statement:
"The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) has had a long-standing partnership with the Providence Foundation of San Francisco to provide shelter, housing assistance and supportive services to people experiencing homelessness, particularly in the Bayview and Fillmore neighborhoods. Providence has played a critical role in serving the unhoused community in these neighborhoods.
Providence, like many other small community-based organizations, has at times struggled to maintain compliance with all the City's contracting requirements. HSH has worked closely with them for years to build their capacity and comply with City requirements because of the important work that they do.
However last fall a series of serious allegations came out from Providence's own staff about possible fraud, wage theft, and mismanagement. The Providence staff, seeking support and guidance, brought these concerns to us as well as to Office of Labor Standards and the City Attorney's Office.
The City Attorney's office launched their own investigation into the situation and have issued a debarment letter to Providence which will make them ineligible for future City contracts for up to 5 years. The debarment does not require that HSH immediately end existing contracts with Providence, HSH will be reviewing each contract on a program-by-program basis to determine the best way to continue seamless services for the guests and tenants in these programs.
HSH's ultimate responsibility is to the guests and tenants in these programs and we are working diligently to ensure that clients continue to receive the shelter, housing, and services they need."
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