Nearly three dozen art and community grassroots organizations are scrambling to figure out how to stay afloat financially after San Francisco rescinded their promises of funding amid a widening scandal at the city’s Human Rights Commission.
“I do believe that we are collateral damage,” said Sherri Young, Founder and Executive Director of the African-American Shakespeare Company.
Young told CBS News Bay Area that her theater company lost a total of $500,000 in two separate grants from the city.
She said the city first froze the grant money in the fall of last year and then notified them that the offer had been officially rescinded late last month. Losing the money, she says, will jeopardy the theater company’s upcoming performances this fall.
“It just kind of rocks your world in a very strange and devastating way,” Young said.
According to a spokesperson for the Human Rights Commission, the grant money was part of the city’s Dream Keeper Initiative — a program launched by former Mayor London Breed in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death.
The spokesperson says the program was designed to be the city’s investment in the African-American and other underserved communities in San Francisco.
However, the program was dogged by questions about excessive spending and a lack of oversight in the grant process. Those questions eventually led to Human Rights Commission Executive Director Sheryl Davis’ resignation last fall.
After Davis’ departure, the spokesperson said in a prepared statement that, “Irregularities were discovered that were significant enough that the entire process was found to be tainted.”
In response, the Commission decided to rescind the grant offers and essentially start over. The statement continues, “This outcome has had a significant and regrettable impact on community-serving nonprofits. The vast majority of these organizations have done nothing wrong but unfortunately have been impacted by the fallout from these revelations.”
At the theater company, Young said she has yet to cancel any performances but faces an ever-uncertain future with an enormous hole in their current budget.
“That money supports the people who work here. It support myself. It supports all of our wonderful artists. And that’s what’s being jeopardized.” says Operations Manager Darien Caine.
The application period for the next round of funding closes on May 5. A decision on who gets the money, or how much, is not expected until July.
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Devin Fehely
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