Another nonprofit in San Francisco is accused of violating terms of agreements with the city by submitting fraudulent invoices worth $105,000, according to a complaint filed by officials on May 6.
City Attorney David Chiu suspended the Providence Foundation of San Francisco for “willful misconduct” and is seeking to block the nonprofit from receiving grants or contracts from the city for five years—the maximum allowed by law.
“These actions have not only breached Providence’s grant agreement with the city and misled the city into paying for work that was never completed, but they deprived vulnerable San Franciscans of critical services that the city earmarked for their benefit,” Mr. Chiu said in the complaint.
The suspension comes after Patricia Doyle, executive director for the foundation, submitted multiple alleged fraudulent invoices since 2022 for work that was never completed at the Oasis Inn—a homeless shelter managed by the organization located at 900 Franklin St. in the city’s Cathedral Hill neighborhood.
“The fraud was blatant and should have been obvious to anyone at Providence who had direct knowledge of Providence’s operations at the Oasis and the Oasis’ plainly visible physical condition,” Mr. Chiu said. “Providence’s Executive Director had to know the invoices were false. At the very least, Providence’s Executive Director submitted and certified these invoices in reckless disregard of their falsity.”
Invoices for painting the exterior of the building totaling $90,000 and another for $15,000 to remove deadbolts from doors were fraudulently submitted to the city and payment was collected, though no such work ever occurred, according to the 305-page complaint filed by the city attorney.
Photos included in the complaint show the exterior of the building looking the same in 2023 as it did before the city was billed for painting in 2022. Additionally, deadbolts are still present in 2024, according to the report.
Invoices in the name of Robert Lacy Jr. for work done by his company, Will Do It Construction, included a fabricated contractor’s license number, the complaint alleges. He submitted the invoices to Kenisha Roach, Providence’s director of operations, and Ms. Doyle subsequently submitted them to the city for reimbursement, alleging the information was accurate and that all work was eligible for payment under an existing grant agreement.
As the executive director since 2019, Ms. Doyle was responsible for verifying invoices and maintaining fiscal responsibility, according to the city attorney.
While neither she nor Ms. Roach worked at the Oasis, both attended a press conference at the shelter in October 2023, the report said.
“Both must have seen first-hand that the exterior of the Oasis was not painted in 2022,” Mr. Chiu said. “As of April 9, 2024, the exterior remains unpainted and, upon visiting the site, representatives of Providence must have seen that.”
The nonprofit has not offered to reimburse the city or acknowledged the fraudulent invoices, according to the complaint.
The group’s legal counsel said the allegations made in the complaint are “unfounded and baseless” and suggested the evidence will demonstrate that debarment is unjustified.
“Providence Foundation of San Francisco is aware of these allegations, fully cooperating with the City and County of San Francisco’s investigation, and will take remedial action where appropriate,” Vernon Goins, the attorney representing the foundation, told The Epoch Times by email on May 9.
“If debarment proceedings are initiated, the Providence Foundation of San Francisco is confident that it will successfully prove that it never engaged in any willful misconduct as to any city grant or contract.”
Providence has caught the attention of city officials repeatedly in recent years.
Since March 2023, it has received at least six letters demanding corrective action related to a host of complaints, including illegally videotaping guests and employees, wage theft, and nepotism—with children of executive directors and other family members employed by the agency in violation of grant agreements—among other issues.
“The foregoing fraud and misstatements, alone, justify debarment for the full five years allowed under City law,” Mr. Chiu said. “But Providence engaged in a range of other troublesome conduct at the Oasis and, in doing so, Providence violated the agreement and consistently failed to meet the agreement’s key performance terms.”
Founded in 1996, the nonprofit has multiple grants with San Francisco to operate and manage a homeless navigation center, a temporary storage facility for homeless individuals, a flexible housing program, an emergency housing voucher program, and support services at a senior living center.
While the suspension does not currently affect current grant agreements—reportedly totaling approximately $7.2 million—the complaint notes that their cancellation could ultimately occur once investigations and hearings are complete.
Funding for Providence primarily comes from the city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing—the agency that was defrauded by the fake invoices, according to the complaint.
The nonprofit has until the last week of May to request an administrative hearing. Mr. Chiu notes in the complaint that further legal actions could be on the horizon based on current or future investigative findings.
Providence referred The Epoch Times’ requests for comment to the organization’s legal counsel, Mr. Goins, who did not respond by press time.
The news comes as San Francisco is dealing with a host of nonprofits’ violating grant agreements, with the city controller questioning financial management and misuse of funds.
Mr. Chiu said in the most recent case that the nonprofit’s fraudulent activity hurt those most in need.
“There’s a difference between having challenges with financial compliance and intentionally defrauding the city and its taxpayers,” he said in a May 6 statement. “This nonprofit took over $100,000 of public money meant to benefit people experiencing homelessness. That cannot be tolerated.”
He said his office is committed to protecting the city by identifying those who are misappropriating funds and defrauding local agencies.
“My office’s work to root out bad actors who take advantage of our public resources continues,” Mr. Chiu said. “We will find out about your misdeeds, cut off your funding, and hold you accountable.”
