Press Conference Rally: Non-Profit Workers Press Conference Against Corruption/Malfea

1/16 Press Conference Rally: Non-Profit Workers Press Conference Against Corruption/Malfeasance/Retaliation & Against Genocide in Palestine
Non-Profit Workers Press Conference Against Corruption/Malfeasance/Retaliation
& Against Genocide in Palestine
January 16th 2024
474 Valencia
11:30 AM

The growing union busting and illegal attacks on non-profit workers in San Francisco will be exposed in a press conference. Hundreds of millions of dollars are going to these non-profits without any real oversight by the City and County of San Francisco.
Nonprofits have stolen the struggle for human rights from the people as their anti- worker ideology creates obstacles between the people and the government. The existence of nonprofits since the 60s has kept the community and workers from fighting for human rights from our government. Those human rights are the right to decent housing, the right to healthcare, the right to childcare and the right to safe and good paying jobs.

Workers from Companeros del Barrio, and Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC) are standing up for workers rights and to denounce the misuse of city money by Centro del Pueblo, TNDC and all nonprofits. The Nonprofits are not accountable to the community or workers and are pitted against city workers as cheap labor.

We are uniting to demand an investigation into the misuse of public funds, not holding required public board meetings, denial of workers rights and the wrongful termination of employees. Non-profit workers will also be protesting the continuing genocide against Palestinians by the Israeli government which has been financed by billions of US dollars. While services are being cut back for homeless and social services with layoffs at TNDC the US government with the support of Democrats and Republicans is spending trillions on the war machine yet workers are without healthcare.
Speakers will be calling for all non-profit workers in San Francisco funded by public funds to be folded into public service jobs with the same wages, benefits and conditions of public workers.

Sponsors:
Companeros del Barrio
Workers For Justice At TNDC
Mothers On The March
Revolutionary Workers Front
United Front Committee For A Labor Party UFCLP

TNDC Non-Profit Workers & Residents Protest Firings & Discrimination
https://youtu.be/RQY8OPl--Gg

SF City Workers Against Firings Over Vaccine, Attacks on Civil Service & Outsourcing/Privatization
https://youtu.be/lNsnZM4Uads

S.F. investigates homeless shelter operator — the latest nonprofit under scrutiny
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/providence-foundation-homeless-shelter-18596169.php
By Maggie Angst
Jan 10, 2024
The San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing sent a series of “correction action” letters to its contractor, the Providence Foundation, to address deficiencies, including not reaching target occupancy levels at the Oasis Family Shelter at 900 Franklin St.
The San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing sent a series of “correction action” letters to its contractor, the Providence Foundation, to address deficiencies, including not reaching target occupancy levels at the Oasis Family Shelter at 900 Franklin St.
Stephen Lam/The Chronicle 2022
San Francisco is investigating the operator of a nonprofit homeless shelter for alleged wage theft and other labor law violations, the latest social services provider to wind up under scrutiny as city officials call for more accountability.
Pat Mulligan, director of the city’s Office of Labor Standards Enforcement, said his agency launched the investigation into the Providence Foundation of San Francisco in December after receiving complaints from employees.
San Francisco pays Providence millions of dollars annually to operate a homeless shelter with a navigation center as well as a storage facility for homeless individuals, a housing subsidy program and the Oasis Family Shelter.

Mulligan would not provide details about the complaints made against Providence, citing the active investigation, but documents obtained by the Chronicle shed light on the allegations.
According to a Dec. 6 letter from the city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, Providence employees have alleged that the nonprofit failed to accurately pay employees for their time worked, used hiring practices marred by nepotism and violated city policies at a family shelter it operates.
The investigation into Providence joins a slew of recent scandals and crises involving nonprofit contractors that San Francisco relies on to help meet the needs of its homeless residents and those dealing with mental illness or substance abuse.
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Within the past year and a half, one nonprofit’s cash flow problems placed dozens of drug treatment beds in jeopardy, and another substance abuse treatment provider, HealthRight 360, temporarily suspended intake because it was short-staffed. The city also barred an embattled nonprofit that provided meals and other services to homeless individuals, the United Council of Human Services, from receiving city funds because of its poor standing with the state and alleged improprieties. The city referred that case to the FBI.

San Francisco legislators have recently held hearings and proposed new legislation to demand greater oversight and accountability by city departments of these nonprofits. It’s an issue that could also impact Mayor London Breed’s reelection race, where voters will be more focused on the city’s use of public funds.
The Providence Foundation is the nonprofit philanthropic arm of Providence Baptist Church, a fixture of the city’s historically Black Bayview-Hunters Point community for more than six decades. Providence’s executive director, Patricia Doyle, did not respond to multiple calls and emails from a reporter. Instead, the nonprofit’s attorney, Donald​ Sullivan, said in an email that Providence would “not be making a statement at this time” and that all future inquiries about the foundation should go through him.
Providence’s alleged labor law violations are the latest in a string of problems the city has faced recently when working with the nonprofit.
The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing sent a series of “correction action” letters to Providence over the past year instructing it to address myriad deficiencies.
Those issues include overspending city contracts by hundreds of thousands of dollars, hiring for positions not approved in the budget, failing to maintain compliance with federal and state contracting requirements, and allowing beds at a family shelter to sit empty.
Within the past year, the city’s homelessness department placed Providence on a corrective plan to address empty beds at the city’s 59-room Oasis family shelter at 900 Franklin St. and referred the nonprofit to the controller’s office financial management coaching program for stronger fiscal oversight.
Despite the added measures, problems persist.
Providence leaders have repeatedly shown up late or skipped meetings and failed to provide critical information and paperwork to the city on time, according to corrective letters obtained through a public records request.
John Pelissero, director of government ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, said the nonprofit’s alleged disregard for addressing compliance issues identified by the city “raises good questions about why the City of San Francisco would continue to contract with Providence.”
“Contracting is a necessity for most city governments, but the city still has to provide effective oversight of their contractor,” Pelissero said. “If not, then the public will lose trust not only in that contractor, but in the city government and its officials.”
Emily Cohen, a spokesperson for the homelessness department, said the city’s diligent corrective action process and compliance efforts should “give the community some solace that the city takes very seriously our monitoring responsibilities.”
“We really are trying to wrap around this organization and provide them simultaneous support and accountability,” she added.
Providence rapidly expanded during the pandemic and was one of the first nonprofits to agree to operate the city’s shelter-in-place hotel program for formerly homeless people. But with that fast growth has come challenges, Cohen said.
As early as December 2022, records indicate the homelessness department alerted Providence that it did not maintain the active registration status required to receive grant funding through the federal and state government.
After repeated and unmet requests from the city to resolve the matter, the department warned the nonprofit that it was in jeopardy of losing its federal grant funding.
To prevent fallout for clients, the department agreed in May to update the nonprofit’s contract and replace the grant funding with money from the city’s general fund. Providence, which never obtained the necessary active grant registration status, avoided losing any funding through that process, according to Cohen. 
The homelessness department around that time reported that Providence was on track to overspend three shelter program contracts by nearly $1 million. Cohen said city employees worked with Providence to restructure their budget and cut costs, but it still overspent by more than $400,000 last fiscal year. The city used funds from Proposition C, a business tax earmarked for homeless services, to fill the budget gap.
Five months later, in October, Providence was continuing that pattern, overspending and billing the city for unapproved expenses. For instance, a corrective letter from the homelessness department states that the day after it approved adding a new position to one of the nonprofit’s contract budgets, Providence attempted to bill the city for the salary retroactively back to July.
By December, the homelessness department was reprimanding Providence about new issues — this time focused on personnel complaints.
Providence staff informed the city that the nonprofit deprived them of holiday pay and didn’t pay them accurately for time worked, according to a Dec. 6 letter.
Staff further alleged that they were forced to forgo breaks due to inadequate staffing levels and that the agency declined to expand its workforce despite available funding.
Employees at the Oasis Family Shelter told the city that Providence is failing to follow internal complaint procedures and the city’s rules around shelter complaints, “leading to misinformation being provided to the shelter guests when trying to access client advocacy services,” the letter states. They also alleged that the Providence director of operations, Kenisha Roach, recorded video and audio of confidential meetings between clients and staff.
The Oasis Family Shelter, which temporarily shuttered at the start of 2023, was purchased by local nonprofit St. Anthony Foundation and reopened in April. Providence, which ran the shelter previously, continued to operate Oasis under its city contract. Since the reopening, the shelter has failed to reach the city’s target occupancy level of 90% or more. In July, occupancy dropped to a mere 41%, according to city data. The city’s homelessness department began conducting biweekly meetings with Providence last year to remedy the situation.
Some of the empty beds were explained by room repairs and staffing capacity issues, according to Cohen. As of December, Providence had reached 88% occupancy at the shelter.
The homelessness department ordered the nonprofit to initiate an independent investigation of the complaints, create a hiring plan and assist with scheduling a listening session with Oasis shelter guests, among other requirements. Cohen said that the city is working with Providence “to ensure full compliance.”
Providence’s failure to come into compliance with the city’s fiscal policies could lead the controller’s office to give the nonprofit “elevated concern status.” As of December, four nonprofit city contractors had the designation, which mandates that they receive additional management and fiscal oversight.
Cohen said the city hopes that added enforcement will not be necessary in the case of Providence.
Reach Maggie Angst: maggie.angst [at] sfchronicle.com