At a time when youth violence prevention is top of mind in Indianapolis, work for one local nonprofit has been set back. Brandon Randall, founder of TRU Colors, learned a chunk of their grant funding was mismanaged through the Fay Biccard Glick Neighborhood Center.
WFYI’s Abriana Herron sat down with Randall to talk about the situation.
This interview has been edited for style and clarity.
Abriana Herron: Can you briefly explain what your organization does, and its connection to the Fay Biccard Glick Neighborhood Center?
Brandon Randall: My organization is TRU Colors Consulting, and we contacted Fay Biccard prior to the sixth round of Elevation Grants to ask if they would be a fiscal sponsor, and they agreed. And so we submitted a grant to do some violence prevention work with a group of 12 young men from across the city. Fay Biccard was able to submit that grant, and we were granted the funds, which was about $220,000.
Herron: Can you walk me through what happened after you learned that the neighborhood center would be closing?
Randall: Shortly after it was released that Patrice (Duckett-Brown) was no longer there, that is when we found out that the neighborhood center was actually going to be closing. We did not find out that information through Fay Biccard. It was through community members.
And so what happened was I contacted the board chair, Jamie Blanck and the CFO, who is currently serving as the interim CEO, or acting CEO, to request a meeting between Fay Biccard, TRU Colors and then the (Indianapolis) Foundation. Because I wanted to make sure that we had all of the information that we needed from Fay Biccard. But also just to make sure everybody was on the same page regarding how much funding we had remaining to go over the budget, how much money we had spent, just to make sure that we were riding out the last two months smoothly.
So we arrived to the meeting, and I just asked pretty directly, ’Do you still have our money?’ And her response was, ‘No.’ There was no money left in our account. Now mind you, that was August 7th. Our program does not end until the end of September, so we still have two months left of programming and payment disbursements that was supposed to happen.
The challenge became even more intense after it was disclosed that they knew that the money was gone at the end of May. So they knew for two and a half months that we had no money left in our account.
Herron: So (you) learn that in the August 7th meeting, what were you feeling?
Randall: Very much frustration and disappointment. The main issue that I had was there was no communication. If you knew for two and a half months that y’all did not have our money — my frustration was — why would you not contact us?
And even before then, if the money was funny, I would have expected an email, saying, ‘Hey, just so you know, there’s some things happening with finances. It may impact your grant.’ I would have much appreciated that level of transparency. It didn’t happen.
Herron: How exactly were those funds meant to be used?
Randall: It was a total of $43,000. $22,000 of that was for the last two months of pay for my 10 students who serve as youth ambassadors for the program. About $9,000 of that was split between the last two months of pay for me and my assistant director.
And then the remaining balance, which was about $10,000 was split up between program supplies, food for our monthly sessions and conference costs. I’m assuming they used them for operations. You know, it’s already been publicly released that they were in some financial binds, so it was probably tapped into just to help support keep the organization going.
Herron: As that money was from the city, funded through the Elevation Grant, have you talked to or heard anything from city officials about the missing funds?
Randall: The (Indianapolis) Foundation has been very much involved in that meeting that we had on August 7 and then subsequent conversations that we’ve had between Fay Biccard. So the foundation has been really helpful to help us get over this barrier.
Herron: What impact has the situation had on you, your organization and the young men who were preparing for the event in September?
Randall: They were obviously frustrated. It’s another system organization that has essentially betrayed them. However, they were still very much focused. They’ve been doing this work since November, planning for their conference, and so they were still very determined; we’re not gonna let this phase us.
For me, it’s been very overwhelmingly stressful because I’m responsible for the entirety of this program, and I’ve done everything I was supposed to do.
Herron: How do you move forward from this situation?
Randall: So right now, we’re essentially put on pause as far as funding goes. We are still moving forward with our conference. That’s still happening. So I mean, unfortunately, the work does have to continue, even though I don’t know how I’m gonna pay them in two weeks. At this point, I’m taking it day by day.
Herron: Is there anything you would like to add that you believe people should know?
Randall: I do want to make sure that it is clear that I don’t place this entire blame on Patrice (Duckett-Brown). You know, I don’t want people to hear what’s happening and immediately rush to judgment and blame Patrice for this, because there are other players involved who need to step up and hold themselves accountable and not throw Patrice under the bus. Because in this situation, there were many drivers of that bus.
Herron: Thank you so much, Brandon.
Randall: Absolutely, appreciate it.
TRU Colors has secured a site for its September conference. The Indianapolis Foundation, which runs the Elevation grant program for the city, said in a statement it is committed to collaborating with the center and other partners to help ensure that needs continue to be met.
A Fay Biccard representative said outside help has been hired to understand what happened financially.
This story includes the transcription of a long-form interview. WFYI conducts these audio interviews with members of the public to hear more stories from our community.
