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Monday, July 23, 2001
Light of Life Ministries, a North Side-based mission for the homeless and poor, should get its house in order. It's up to the board of directors to decide if that means merely a house-cleaning or the need to "clean house."
A joint report last week by the Post-Gazette and KDKA-TV suggested that sloppy management has caused the charity severe financial problems.
The situation has also drawn the attention of both the Pennsylvania attorney general, who is investigating its fund-raising practices, and the Allegheny County controller, who wants to know if the public is getting good value for the county's $334,000 in contracts.
Among the problems described in the PG/KD report:
While none of these findings, to date, establishes any illegality, they are bound to bother many of the private citizens who write checks to Light of Life -- and who could be sending them to another homeless shelter.
We're glad that state and county officials are troubled to the degree that they are trying to get answers. But short of public investigators turning up any new revelations, the mission's board of directors -- whose president is former Steelers lineman Tunch Ilkin and vice president is businessman Russell Davis -- have the ability to act decisively and improve the performance and accountability of the agency.
The Light of Life Mission is a registered Pennsylvania charity that relies on state and federal money for 25 percent of its revenue. But it is also a family operation that suffers from, at the least, questionable management and inefficiency .
The board can take hold of the mission's future, or let those on the outside force changes on the charity. Better for the needy souls who seek help from Light of Life that the mission's directors fix its course now, before the program's reputation slips even further.
Poor financial management. Former upper-level managers said the mission faces a $500,000 deficit by September and the possibility that it will fail to meet next month's payroll. Inadequate fiscal controls. An outside audit for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2000, said that "without proper internal control, Light of Life cannot ensure that all revenue that is received/earned is recorded, all revenue that is earned is billed and that assets are safeguarded from misappropriation."A loosely run thrift store. Former employees said bags of donated clothes were often thrown away without being inventoried or because there was no one to sort them. Antique collectors bought special pieces but sales records weren't kept.Inflated service claims. Former workers said the ministry's counts on meals served to the homeless are erratic, conflicting and don't add up.Pricey fund-raising. The contract with professional solicitor Russ Reid Co. lets the Pasadena, Calif., firm keep as much as 46 cents on a dollar raised, according to the mission's whistle-blowers. The ministry's own filing with the state Bureau of Charitable Organizations for the latest fiscal year showed it spent 38 percent of its income on administration and fund-raising.