September 28, 2009

Chicago AIDS Charity Under Investigation for Suspicious Spending

Four years ago, the nonprofit organization Let’s Talk, Let’s Test Foundation (LTLT) convinced Illinois legislators to allocate $3 million per year to the group so it could fight HIV/AIDS in African-American communities; it later received $1.2 million through the state’s African American HIV/AIDS Response Fund. However, the Chicago Sun-Times reports, health officials are now questioning $523,545 that LTLT spent on nonessentials such as football seats and five-figure staff bonuses. 

According to the article, the expenses in question include tickets to a skybox for the Chicago Football Classic and bonus payments of $50,000 to executive director Lloyd Kelly and $30,000 to LTLT cosponsor and founder, Representative Connie Howard (D–Chicago).

“They had the same credentials as the AIDS Foundation of Chicago when they started; it’s a nascent organization that needed support,” said Eric E. Whitaker, MD, who headed the Illinois Department of Public Health from April 2003 to October 2007. “Did I have concerns about giving money to a new organization? Sure.”

But, he added, “If you look over the landscape of black-directed HIV organizations, there was no obvious alternative.”

In 2007, LTLT began facing financial difficulty, leading to a $950,000 funding shortfall.  In April of this year, the organization was unable to solicit donations because it had failed to file a report on its 2008 finances. LTLT blames state health officials for the group’s problems, alleging that the health department canceled plans to donate an additional $1.2 million last year.

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Jacqueline, Los Angeles, 2010-07-02 12:03:56
Los Angeles has several HIV/AIDS nonprofit organizations providing services to the transgender community. But one in particular is being investigated by the Office of AIDS Programs and Policy and the Center for Disease Control for falsifying client files. I hope that a news reporter can write about this issue since it is important to bring light to this type of corruption. This particular agency also hires illegal undocument workers that are still american jobs.

Bill, 9th generation Californian, 2009-09-29 15:28:50
This world is infected with greed and arrogance. Evil sure is flourishing. You don't even have to be religious to see that. When will Americans wake up and say enough is enough?? Or is it the same old tired cliche, "Who cares?" The stupidity of Americans.