City pulls Charlotte nonprofit’s ability to get grants after concerns about $2.25M
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- City revokes Heal Charlotte funding eligibility over $2.25M grant concerns.
- Monitoring report cited missing audit, unverified expenses and delayed reports.
- Heal Charlotte disputes wrongdoing, says it submitted financial information
The City of Charlotte revoked funding eligibility from a housing assistance nonprofit this month amid concerns with how the organization managed a $2.25 million grant.
Heal Charlotte was one of four organizations the city selected in 2023 to provide emergency housing and supportive services under a one-year contract funded by federal COVID relief dollars. That contract ended in November 2024.
An annual monitoring report this year identified several record keeping issues with Heal Charlotte’s finances, WCNC first reported. Report findings include missing or incomplete documentation, unverified expenses and delays in required reporting. City officials notified the nonprofit in July that it needed to correct those findings.
Heal Charlotte failed to do so, according to an internal Oct. 16 email from Jason Schneider, the city’s communications and marketing director. Among the missing documents was a required financial audit. Greg Jackson, the nonprofit’s founder, said he has no plans to work with the city again and has not misspent any funds.
The city informed Heal Charlotte earlier this month that it won’t be eligible for future city funding until it resolves concerns outlined in the monitoring report.
Those issues still have not been corrected, according to a fact sheet provided Monday by city spokesperson Jack VanderToll.
Heal Charlotte founder responds to report findings
Jackson said the monitoring report findings are “really suggestions” — not mandates. His organization turned in all of its financial records, including an independent review of its finances, he said.
Jackson attributed the findings to technical differences between what the city wants and what he already provided. Charlotte is looking for a specific type of audit that can cost upwards of $15,000, which Jackson said is difficult to pay without taking money from community services.
Jackson said he doesn’t know what unverified expenses the city is referring to.
“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.”
He said the city provided insufficient training on the grant’s requirements. The city awarded money to Jackson without issue before, but this process was more intensive since it dealt with federal funds for which the city served as a pass-through, he said.
Before the $2.25 million, Jackson received a one-time $25,000 grant from the Community Resilience Fund in 2023, according to the city fact sheet. That money was paid in 2024, and the city has no records of additional funding requests from Jackson or his nonprofit.
Heal Charlotte does not intend to receive future city funding, Jackson said, but the organization intends to complete an audit and resolve the findings. The nonprofit is in touch with multiple firms he hopes will offer a discounted audit service.
“When we do an audit, it’s not to appease the city. It’s really to appease the people in the public that have their doubts because we don’t want any disconnection with the people that we serve.”
The Observer submitted a public records request to the city on Oct. 17 and is waiting to receive a copy of the full monitoring report.
What is Heal Charlotte?
Heal Charlotte offers temporary housing services to families without a reliable place to stay. The organization’s services also include security deposit or electric bill payment help.
The nonprofit landed in the spotlight in June when 36-year-old Shannon Solomon and her 1-year-old son Hayden were found dead in a north Charlotte hotel room previously leased by the nonprofit.
Heal Charlotte used the $2.25 million grant to sign a one-year lease with the Baymont Inn to provide affordable housing and counseling to poor people. Heal Charlotte provided 60 rooms of free, temporary housing, 30 rooms at a subsidized rate for community partners and 30 rooms at market rate.
Solomon moved to the hotel to take part in the program, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
Jackson said in a statement at the time that Heal Charlotte was not responsible for any residents living in the hotel after its lease ended on April 7. But some Heal Charlotte residents, including Solomon, continued living there after the hotel changed hands to a new substance abuse recovery program.
The program — called Heal, Empower, Love, Protect, or HELP — was started by Cedric Dean, who also faces financial scrutiny. Federal prosecutors raided his properties this month and allege Dean obtained millions of dollars in Medicaid fraud through a healthcare scheme.
Dean in June told the Observer Solomon was a Heal Charlotte resident, and his nonprofit was not allowed to have any contact with her.
Heal Charlotte “fulfilled every obligation” when its contract ended and was focused on “building new partnerships, acquiring new properties, and continuing to serve families with dignity, integrity, and transparency,” Jackson said in his previous statement.
