United Homeless Organization Revelations

One of the streetcorner tables where homeless or formerly homeless people ask passersby for donations to the United Homeless Organization. Photo from the New York Times.

On Monday the Attorney General for New York State Andrew M. Cuomo filed a lawsuit against the president and director of the United Homeless Organization alleging that the leaders used the charity's funds for personal expenses while doing little, if anything, to help the homeless in New York City. The organization has long maintained a visible presence in the city. Almost every day people on the Manhattan sidewalks pass by one of the folding tables draped in a distinctive red tablecloth with an empty water-cooler jug to collect money. The lawsuit alleges that the UHO president Stephen Riley and director Myra Walker used the charity's funds largely for personal expenses.

The details suggest a case of small-time crookery. This was not a racket that provided powerful people with the opportunity to unnecessarily fly business class on dubious business or to condemn large swaths of Brooklyn for a sports arena. As reported by the New York Times:

The expenses, the lawsuit said, included premium cable television service at Mr. Riley's apartment, restaurant meals; trips to Cleveland, Mr. Riley's hometown; and shopping purchases from GameStop, the Home Shopping Network, and the web site for Weight Watchers.

But the filing also shines a light on how those ubiquitous donation tables work. Each homeless or formerly homeless person who staffs a table pays the first $15 of donations back to the group for using their name and equipment. The rest is kept by the table's worker. Essentially UHO has been sanctioning begging on the city streets. The arrangement has been known since 2001, but it appears now that all those $15 fees collected by UHO have done little to provide any wider relief to those in need.