RICHMOND, Va. -- A Richmond nonprofit with over three decades in existence will soon be no more, and those impacted by the coming fallout are asking why this has happened and what comes next.
In a letter obtained by CBS 6 dated July 5, an attorney representing The Enrichmond Foundation stated its Board of Directors voted on June 29, 2022 to dissolve the foundation "in the best interest of the Foundation and its charitable mission".
The issue was first reported by the Richmond Free Press.
Previously on Enrichmond's website — which has now been scrubbed of most information — it said the nonprofit was founded in 1990 and its mission was "to serve the people, parks, and public space of the City of Richmond."
The website also stated its most prevailing service was "acting as an umbrella nonprofit organization for over one hundred volunteer groups and special initiatives, or ‘Friends of’ groups."
The foundation added that partner organizations would be able to apply for grants and receive tax-deductible donations.
The July 5 letter addressed to these "partner organizations" said the vote to dissolve would require steps to be followed as outlined "with its Articles of Incorporation, its Bylaws, its charitable mission, and applicable laws."
Those steps will include making adequate provisions for the payment and discharge of liabilities and obligations, as well as "distribution of the Foundation's assets to the City of Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities or a similar organization."
The attorney, Kerry Hutcherson, added he will be "working to gather a comprehensive list of the Foundations’ assets and liabilities so that the Foundation can follow up with Partner Organizations regarding the next steps in the dissolution process. I appreciate your patience and understanding as I do this work, and if you have questions, please contact me. I will do my best to answer them as soon as I have sufficient information."
But those being impacted by the dissolution said they have unanswered questions.
"Still in the dark as to a lot of the particulars," said Jeffrey Burden. "Both broadly within the context of the dissolution and, frankly, you know, what that means for our group specifically."
Burden is a board member for Friends of Shockoe Hill Cemetery, which helps maintain and improve that cemetery. He said they had been involved with Enrichmond since approximately 2008.
"They are the umbrella organization through with which the Friends of Shockoe Hill Cemetery has a partnership agreement," added Burden. "In our case, part of that agreement is that we operate using the foundation's 501(c)(3)'s designation. Also, a part of the partnership agreement is they basically are a back office. They handle monies coming in and the disbursing of monies from an account for us. If we received donations directly then we deposited with them, we request checks for the expenses that we have."
But, since the nonprofit's dissolution, Burden they have been unable to access to funds.
"I know of no way that we can access the monies that we had on deposit with the foundation. Normally, that was through -- we can get access to information via the website and could make requests to staff members for checks or to whom to send checks for deposit," said Burden. "Now, as far as I know, there's no staff, the website is down. So, there's no way to even know what's in the account, much less to do anything with the account. And I have not received any direction or information about how long that's going to last or how that gets resolved or even if the monies on account for us and for all the other groups are even safe until such time as they get returned to the group. So, it's all a mystery at this point."
Burden said all options are on the table for his group, including moving to another group that provided financial services like Enrichmond, but said he was unaware of any. In the meantime, he said not knowing if and when they can get access to their money is already having an effect on planning for future events.
Overall, Burden said the situation was a "huge mess" and it was going to be a "really tough hole" for the organizations that relied on Enrichmond's services.
"This is a terrific blow to these dozens and dozens of groups that were doing such good work all throughout Richmond, and a variety of different kinds of projects and different focuses," added Burden.
What About the Cemeteries?
Along with the decades of providing this overarching service, in recent years Enrichmond also became owners of two historic Black cemeteries in Richmond and Henrico County — Evergreen Cemetery in 2017 and East End Cemetery in 2019.
Online property records for Henrico County list the owner as Parity LLC, but lists Enrichmond Foundation for its mailing address.
Documents on the Virginia State Corporation Commission website show the LLC was formed in 2017 and John Sydnor, the executive director of Enrichmond until two months ago, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, was listed as the initial registered agent, but that was changed to Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP in 2020.
CBS 6 inquired with the new registered agents as to what would happen with ownership of the two cemeteries, but was told by a public relations manager that they do not "comment on client matters".
Among those wondering what will happen with the cemeteries and the details surrounding Enrichmond's dissolution are groups that have been involved in cleaning up the once-neglected burial grounds.
"We effectively reclaimed about 80-90% of the cemetery with hand tools and just a tremendous amount of volunteer labor," said Brian Palmer, a founding member of Friends of East End Cemetery.
Palmer said the group was formed in 2013, received non-profit status in 2017, and had worked at the cemeteries until 2020. He said they stopped physically maintaining the site when they could not reach an agreement with Enrichmond, as reported by the Richmond Free Press.
"We stepped back, we reassessed the situation and most of our volunteer group went over to Woodland Cemetery," said Palmer. "We continue to reclaim history here, through our digital research. But, in terms of hands-on stuff, we need to wait until the legal situation and things are cleared up before we take any more steps going forward."
Palmer, who has two ancestors buried in the cemetery, said he is "concerned" about what will happen to the properties now that Enrichmond is dissolving and wants those responsible to be held accountable.
"It's not time for celebration or for blame, but, it is time for responsibility. The people who ran that operation need to be held responsible," said Palmer. "The appointed and the elected officials who continually funded Enrichmond and the property-owning arm that they set up to buy these places, they need to be held accountable. Because people are wondering, where are the hundreds of thousands of dollars that have gone to this entity Enrichmond?"
"I don't think that the officers of a nonprofit that handled hundreds of thousands of dollars can simply wish away their responsibility and then walk away. There has to be some accountability," Palmer added. "And I think those are the folks that I hope people will be trying to track down. In addition to those who funded them, our elected officials and our appointed officials."
Palmer said he is also calling for public meetings to be held to discuss the future of the two cemeteries.
"Transparency and accountability have to be across the board," added Palmer. "We need to know where the horizon is. Now, we're in the dark."
Next Steps
CBS 6 reached out to Hutcherson, the attorney assisting with the dissolution process, and asked for more information regarding the reasons behind the decision and what would happen next.
We were given this statement in an email:"The Enrichmond Foundation is not ready to make any comments at this time, but I expect to have a statement within the coming days."
Hutcherson is being assisted in part by someone who has been involved with Enrichmond in several capacities. John Mitchell, who also has family buried in Evergreen, said he started with them in 2017 as a member of the descendants' committee, and became a board member in 2018.
He said in 2019 he became a community ambassador.
Mitchell claimed he was unaware of the decision to dissolve and does not know the reason behind it, but once he found out he said he volunteered to become a board member again to help.
"I am technically the last. Yes, I am a board member," said Mitchell.
Mitchell said his primary focus is making sure the cemeteries are still cared for.
"I wanted to make sure someone was there to actually make sure that Evergreen is not overlooked in terms of making sure it's accessible. And, luckily, working with Virginia Outdoors Foundation and making sure that the liability and access are legal — I can still come out here and make sure that the gates are open in the morning, closing in the evening. Make sure that the groups that do want to come out here and do work and come out here," said Mitchell.
He added he is also helping Hutcherson field inquiries from the partner organizations impacted by Enrichmond's dissolution.
"I'm assisting him as far as fielding phone calls from partners to make sure that I get information on partner's contact information and make sure that they get the quickest information as it comes in," said Mitchell, "Other than that, [Hutcherson] is in charge of what is going on. So, he's the only one who'll be able to tell us when that's coming out in terms of like a statement, and actually letting people know what's going to happen in the future."
J. David Young, who is currently the executive director of the FRIENDS Association For Children, told CSB 6, "My term as the Enrichmond Foundation Board President ended June 30th, and that the Board recently voted to identify Mr. Hutcherson and Mr. Mitchell as the authorized representative for any and all business-related affairs."
A spokesperson for Americorps, whose logo is featured on Enrichmond's page), said the agency's staff are "monitoring the situation and working closely with the Virginia Commission."
“This was a sudden announcement with notification to AmeriCorps occurring this week," the spokesperson wrote.
CBS 6 has reached out to the City of Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities about their involvement in the process and they were mentioned in Hutcherson's letter, but have not heard back.
CBS 6 has also reached out to Mayor Levar Stoney's office, J. David Young (who was listed as Enrichmond's Board President on the website before that information was removed), but have not heard back.
Meanwhile, the Richmond Free Press reported Thursday that Fifth District Councilmember Stephanie Lynch would seek an audit of the foundation.
