Charlotte nonprofit didn’t have proper records for over $1M in spending, city says
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Report found Heal Charlotte lacked proper verification for $1.2 million in grant expenses.
- On-site review showed missing client files, incomplete income verification and forms.
- City suspended Heal Charlotte’s city funding eligibility pending audit and fixes.
Local nonprofit Heal Charlotte was missing proper documentation for more than half of the expenses it incurred under a $2.25 million grant awarded by the city, according to a report obtained by The Charlotte Observer.
New details in the report obtained through a public records request shed further light on Charlotte’s decision to suspend the housing assistance nonprofit’s funding eligibility. Greg Jackson, Heal Charlotte’s founder, previously told The Charlotte Observer he has no plans to work with the city again and has not misspent any funds.
The city pulled eligibility last month over concerns about how the organization managed its grant. Heal Charlotte was one of four organizations selected in 2023 to provide emergency housing and support under a one-year contract funded by the federal American Rescue Plan Act.
City officials at the time deemed Heal Charlotte a high-risk contract — a determination based on financial stability, past performance, staffing and other factors. That label required the Housing and Neighborhood Services department to conduct an on-site review in June of nine randomly selected client files funded by ARPA.
Heal Charlotte only furnished seven of those files, all of which were missing several required documents, according to the report. The remaining two client files were unaccounted for.
ARPA requires grant recipients to retain records for five years.
Heal Charlotte also failed to undergo a required financial audit, according to the monitoring report.
The city gave Heal Charlotte more than two months to correct the findings before suspending its eligibility for future city funds. The nonprofit will be eligible again once issues are resolved.
Heal Charlotte intends to complete an audit and correct the findings to restore public trust, not to appease the city, Jackson previously said. He declined the Observer’s request for a follow-up interview for this story.
What’s inside the Heal Charlotte monitoring report?
The report found just under $1.2 million in expenses lacked some form of documentation. For many items, Heal Charlotte either submitted the wrong proof of payment or only one of multiple required documents.
Thousands of dollars in waste and water bills noted past-due amounts that carried over between bills, for example. Heal Charlotte only gave the city a bill for service, which shows a cost was incurred, not that the cost was actually paid or with what money source. The city needed a copy of the payment verification and proof that Heal Charlotte didn’t duplicate payments for the past due expenses, the report said.
Multiple expenses were flagged for unclear connections to the contract, such as a $311 charge for Public Storage. Several people were paid thousands of dollars through Zelle and Cash App, for which Heal Charlotte provided pay receipts with brief notes saying “case management” or “communications money.” The city said it needs clear explanations of how those expenses relate to the grant’s purpose.
The monitoring report also found none of the client case files reviewed had complete income verification for all adult household members. Income verification is used to determine whether somebody is eligible for the services and ensure the program is serving the demographic it’s intended for.
Files lacked mandatory forms, signatures and dates. Case notes and plans were missing or incomplete, too, “making it impossible to confirm that households received required supportive services,” the report said.
‘No criminal activity’: Heal Charlotte responds
The city shared its findings with Heal Charlotte on July 23, about a month and a half after it conducted the on-site review. Officials outlined corrective actions and set an Aug. 22 deadline.
Heal Charlotte provided initial documents that same week but requested an extension for other items. The city moved the deadline to Sept. 30.
Heal Charlotte failed to submit adequate documentation by the new deadline.
The city revoked Heal Charlotte’s funding eligibility on Oct. 1 until all concerns outlined in the report are resolved, according to a letter from Rebecca Pfeiffer, the city contracts and compliance manager.
Jackson previously told the Observer the monitoring report findings were “really suggestions” — not mandates. His organization turned in all of its financial records, including an independent review of its finances, he said.
He attributed the findings to technical differences between what the city wanted and what he already provided.
“There are certain ways that the city would like to see certain payments made,” Jackson said. “Maybe we sent the receipt, we sent the invoice, but we were missing the third thing. Or we sent the invoice, we sent the purchase order, but there wasn’t a receipt.”
Regarding the missing case files, Jackson said two of the files belonged to clients from partner organizations who were staying at the Baymont Inn, which is the hotel Heal Charlotte was leasing under the grant.
One of the clients stayed at the hotel for 60 days before moving on. He lost contact with the partner responsible for the client, he said.
“We haven’t been negligent or anything,” Jackson said. “No criminal activity, no usage of funds that shouldn’t have been used, anything like that.”
This story was originally published November 14, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
