Urban Ministry Center warns donors of potential scam

The Urban Ministry Center – one of Charlotte’s largest homeless services agencies – is warning donors that an unaffiliated entity called True Vine Ministries is soliciting donations using the Urban Ministry’s address.

True Vine is using the Urban Ministry’s College Street address on a Web page that solicits online donations, as well as checks made out to that agency’s leader, Pastor Kennard Martin.

“They are not affiliated with us in anyway,” said Caroline Chambre Hammock of the Urban Ministry. “I have reached out to them, but they have not returned my call.”

A call to True Vine Ministry by the Observer was not immediately returned Friday. The agency’s Web site says it is a “church without walls” that started in 2005 under a bridge in Charlotte. True Vine Ministries has a Facebook page that features photographs of community events in the uptown area, including Marshall Park.

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 2:52 PM with the headline "Urban Ministry Center warns donors of potential scam."