1 Resigns, Another Terminated after Nonprofit Investigation

One employee of a Springfield nonprofit that helps the homeless find housing has resigned and another was terminated after a state investigation.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that the Missouri Housing Development Commission investigation of The Kitchen Inc. found that it tried to use grant funding for apartments that were vacant, overpriced or had overlapping leases. The paper obtained the findings through a records request.

The problems led the commission to refuse to pay $17,830 that had been allocated to the nonprofit for the 2018 fiscal year. The Kitchen withdrew its 2019 funding request and was denied the $30,000 it sought for 2020.

Nonprofit officials say the former employees weren’t following policies and procedures that should have prevented the inappropriate billing. The investigation stemmed from a whistleblower complaint.