A local nonprofit partnering with the city to help pick up trash is now being accused of wasting hundreds of thousands of COVID relief dollars.

“This is exactly the scenario we were trying to avoid,” said Desmond Stinnie.

Stinnie is the lead activist behind Concerned Citizens of Baltimore, a grass roots group suing the city over rolled back recycling services. He says from the beginning, Mayor Scott’s Clean Corp initiative didn’t pass the smell test.

“It was just so duplicative of what we were supposed to be already getting from DPW,” said Stinnie.

Designed to off-set the heavy workloads of an understaffed Department of Public Works (DPW), the mayor’s Clean Corp initiative allocated $15 million from Baltimore’s ARPA funding. The city selected six nonprofits to help clean up underserved communities. Among those awarded a contract was Lazarus Rite, a nonprofit that assists ex-offenders with reentry. Or at least, they had a contract.

“We researched many of the nonprofits,” said Stinnie, “And the things that we’re finding out are completely shocking.”

“And Lazarus Rite in particular had some serious red flags for you?” questioned a FOX45 reporter.

“Very serious red flags,” Stinnie replied.

At the start of this year, the city signed Lazarus Rite to a two year contract for $1.6 million. But in just four months, a fourth of the funding was gone.

According to a contract termination letter obtained by FOX45, on May 5, Lazarus Rite halted all clean up efforts without notifying the city. When confronted on May 17, Lazarus Rite claimed the city’s $414,477 advance had already been spent. However, according to the agency in charge of allocating the funding, program expenses were only submitted for $147,457, leaving $267,020 unaccounted for.

The termination letter reads in part, “During our May 17 call, the Grantee stated that Clean Corps grant funds had been spent on salaries and operational expenses that were not included in the Agreement’s scope of work or budget. This expenditure of grant funds for non-Clean Corps purposes breaches the terms of the Grant Agreement.”

“It’s just disappointing,” said Stinnie.

But Stinnie says it wasn’t surprising. The red flags he says the city missed were found in a simple Maryland Judiciary Case Search, which revealed Christopher Ervin, the owner of Lazarus Rite, is facing significant financial hardship. The city filed for foreclosure on Ervin’s home last July and then just a few months later, Ervin declared bankruptcy.

“This information is easily accessible,” he said, “And we certainly made our concerns known as as we realized that Lazarus Rite was set to receive money.”

Concerns Stinnie says the mayor’s office and the city’s law department ignored.

“We didn’t get any direct response back from the administration. All we got was notice that the award was actually given,” he said.

An automated email message claimed Lazarus Rite’s office is closed from Monday, June 19 – Sunday, June 25. FOX45 attempted to call and text Ervin’s cell for comment, but as of the time this article was published, we have not heard back.

The termination letter also says Lazarus Rite will have to pay back any misused funds. The nonprofit was given until June 2 to provide written evidence of its expenses. Any spending that remains unaccounted for will be due this Friday.

FOX45 sent the following questions to mayor’s office and the city’s law department about the missing money:

• How much funding was Lazarus Rite granted in total and how much will the nonprofit have to pay back?
• Was this group properly vetted before being granted federal funding?
• Is the spending of any other Clean Corp nonprofits being called into question?
• What impact will this have on the Clean Corp program moving forward?

The city did not respond.

“When there’s a situation where money has been possibly stolen or misused there should be a full investigation and a full explanation,” said Stinnie.