San Francisco homelessness nonprofit group accused of mismanaging $240 million of taxpayer dollars: ‘Irresponsible’

A government watchdog group found that a San Francisco homelessness nonprofit organization was guilty of being “careless and irresponsible” with $240 million of taxpayer money. 

The report by OpenTheBooks found that HomeRise, which runs 1,500 units across 19 properties on a $34 million annual budget, had misused funds and engaged in practices that “heightened the risk of fraud.”

The city’s $240 million funding of HomeRise includes $110 million in loans to develop and upgrade properties, $90 million for operations, and more than $40 million in grants for support services.

“It’s unclear exactly how much of the $240 million grants, loans, and subsidies was misused, but what is clear is that this company should never have been trusted with public funds,” OpenTheBooks CEO Adam Andrzejewski said. 

The Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development and the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing hired Sjoberg Evashenk Consulting to conduct an audit into HomeRise after discovering discrepancies in their books.

The auditors found that HomeRise violated rules by using city dollars for fundraising, paying staff bonuses, and providing staff with lunches and gifts. HomeRise gave staff signing bonuses, and auditors found one received an $87,000 (74%) wage increase in just nine months.

Meanwhile, the nonprofit group lost millions of dollars due to vacancies in its buildings, with two of its buildings in the Tenderloin district reportedly being about one-third empty. 

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“The City has a vested interest in HomeRise remaining a viable housing operator for its existing tenants and a developer of low-income housing in the future,” auditors said.

The Washington Examiner reached out to the office of Mayor London Breed for comment.