'Baffled': Hand Up Project founder faced concerns long before ouster
LYNNWOOD — The founder of The Hand Up Project pocketed over $10,000 in donations, the nonprofit alleged this week, the latest revelation about financial irregularities at an organization where the mission is helping people without homes and struggling with addiction.
A former employee of the south Snohomish County nonprofit also complained over a year ago to the state attorney general that founder Robert Smiley may have been unethical in taking other donations.
Months later, in an unrelated move, the organization stripped Smiley of financial oversight at a county-funded shelter program, emails show.
Despite those red flags, as recently as last month, the City of Edmonds awarded Smiley’s organization a grant to clean up homeless camps, then canceled the contract days later.
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/baffled-hand-up-project-founder-faced-concerns-long-before-ouster/
