Charlotte is a big city. Including the metro area, the population is right around three million. As everyone knows, our principal driving economic source is finance, banking and all related service industries.
That brings us to the primary focus of this article. Charlotte has just under 16,000 non-profit organizations. Combined, (according to the website causeiq.com) they employ around 85,000 individuals; earn more than $12 billion in revenue each year and possess assets totaling $35 billion.
That’s a lot of money.
It’s the kind of funding when used by nonprofit organizations that requires fiscal responsibility and transparency. In Charlotte’s LGBTQ+ community, QNotes has increasingly encountered nonprofits that aren’t willing to be as transparent as they should.
That’s why QNotes staff has named Carolinas CARE Partnership (CCP) as the Worst Organization for 2024.
Their path to this achievement begins in early 2024 when QNotes attempted to communicate with CCP’s interim executive director, Tawana Denmark, about the departure of two well-known and respected staffers, Shannon Farrar and Bethany Corrigan.
But there was another matter. A $2 million grant from the MacKenzie Scott Foundation, an organization created and managed by Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Scott is reportedly worth an estimated $34.7 billion dollars and hands out grants to organizations in need that are working for causes Scott deems of merit. In this case, the grant was earmarked for Transcend Charlotte, which had merged with Carolinas Care Partnership under the direction of Corrigan.
Multiple calls were made. Emails were sent. Text messages were sent. Even QNotes publisher Jim Yarbrough stopped by the organization’s office, only to be told by interns that there was no staff in the office because they were on “sabbatical.”
Since when do nonprofit employees suddenly become university professors and take a year off for study and travel? Did that mean the staff of CCP would not return for a year?!
That might as well have been the case.
While it’s not as though QNotes hired a SWAT team to take out a terrorist organization, the CCP’s lack of response and avoidance tactics were incomparable. We simply wanted to ask a few questions about things that, considering the organization is nonprofit and largely exists on grants and donations, should be public knowledge.
But no one wanted to talk with us. There was no transparency whatsoever.
QNotes and the LGBTQ+ Community both were concerned about the whereabouts of Farrar, a long time employee of CCP; and the future for Corrigan, an individual so dedicated to the concept of Transcend and the transgender community in Charlotte, it seemed inconceivable the organization could function without their presence.
But no comment was forthcoming from CCP.
QNotes was able to dig up a mobile number for Denmark, although once she determined who was calling her and what the call was about, she quickly hopped off the line, promising to be “back in touch.”
She did not get back in touch.
Farrar was still nowhere to be found, and Corrigan declined to speak with us. Farrar’s profile and commentary about CCP remained on the organization’s website for several weeks past the time she and the organization parted ways. Today, when you visit the site and click on the link that says “Our Staff and Team,” there are no links that go anywhere.
As of December 2024, it would seem there is still no transparency at CCP. You are not allowed to see who the board members, staff and volunteer teams are. But back to the initial attempt to determine the fate of the two employees and the $2 million dollar grant.
Eventually, during another attempt to reach Denmark on her mobile, for some unknown reason, she decided to take the call. She confirmed that Farrar and Corrigan were no longer with the organization. At that time, she was either unable or unwilling to divulge any further information regarding the two individuals.
Weeks of back and forth attempts at connecting with CCP yielded little to no results. Ultimately, the organization responded to our inquiries with a vague statement of sorts from Denmark.
“Carolinas CARE Partnership looks forward to a summer of programming and events, all dedicated to furthering our mission of seeking justice through health and housing. In addition to our year-long programs focused on areas like housing services, gender identity programs, mental health and substance abuse; we’re excited to support AIDS Walk Charlotte in May, celebrate National HIV testing Day in June and host Queer Prom around Charlotte Pride week in August.”
The Queer Prom CCP offered required another release that was a bit more in depth.
“We have experienced some logistical challenges and changes in leadership and have made the strategic decision to postpone Queer Prom until Pride Month in August. We believe this timing will give us adequate time to resolve all issues and ensure that the event is most successful. Timing it as a pre-Pride celebration will just add to our experience of that time [and] acknowledgement for the community. We remain steadfast in our commitment to the core values and mission of Queer Prom and commit to making it an unforgettable celebration of love, acceptance and diversity.”
CCP’s Queer Prom never materialized, and there was no follow-up statement. It would be remiss to note that Corrigan did produce a queer prom in conjunction with the Carolinas’ LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce, though the event did not benefit from any of grant funding that should have been made available.
A quick visit to the organization’s social media pages shows little to no involvement in any events since June of this year. Their Facebook account actually still has posted at the top of their page a video clip with former executive director Farrar talking about the importance of the organization and what they are doing in response to the COVID pandemic.
According to various sources in the community, CCP is now a barely functioning entity and a shadow of the organization it once was.
“It is my understanding they have a caseworker, the interim ED and a very minimal staff,” said one Charlotte LGBTQ+ community leader, who asked to remain anonymous. “And as far as I know, most of the individuals who utilized their services have moved on to the county or another organization.”
A question about what the organization did with the $2 million grant, purportedly earmarked for the organization’s proposed Life Center (to serve the LGBTQ+ community) reveals even more questionable details.
“I’ve been told that the grant money is being used to pay bills with, although most of the staff jumped ship, so who knows what’s going on? There is no Transcend that I know of and there are little to no services being offered.”
Attempts to reach CCP over the past several days have been greeted by an automated voice attendant.
Why is financial embezzlement so rampant in community nonprofits? How is it possible that an organization can apply for such a sizable grant, receive it, and then not be held accountable for how it is used? It remains unclear if the MacKenzie Scott foundation is aware of CCP’s seeming misuse of the funds, despite attempts made by QNotes to reach out to the foundation.
“It is my fear,” says Jermaine Nakia Lee, a Charlotte resident who has worked with the organization, “that it will slip through the cracks, and the organization will shut down after the board says it’s no longer financially feasible.”
