Atlanta and Charlotte are not in my area-- not in the Greensboro area, not in the Piedmont Triad area. And diverting precious, scant resources from Greensboro-- a city with far more economic problems than Charlotte and Atlanta-- is not a solution to Greensboro's homeless problems.
Nspire fails to meet BBB standards: http://www.bbb.org/charity-reviews/atlanta/religious/nspire-outreach-in-lawrenceville-ga-38377 From the BBB:
"Evaluation Conclusions
Nspire Outreach does not meet the following 3 Standards for Charity Accountability.
Standard 5: Conflict of Interest - No transaction(s) in which any board or staff members have material conflicting interests with the charity resulting from any relationship or business affiliation. Factors that will be considered when concluding whether or not a related party transaction constitutes a conflict of interest and if such a conflict is material, include, but are not limited to: any arm's length procedures established by the charity; the size of the transaction relative to like expenses of the charity; whether the interested party participated in the board vote on the transaction; if competitive bids were sought and whether the transaction is one-time, recurring or ongoing.
Standard 6: Board Policy on Effectiveness - Have a board policy of assessing, no less than every two years, the organization's performance and effectiveness and of determining future actions required to achieve its mission.
Nspire Outreach does not meet this Standard because:
Its effectiveness assessment policy does not specify that this assessment will take place at least once every two years.
Standard 7: Board Approval of Written Report on Effectiveness - Submit to the organization's governing body, for its approval, a written report that outlines the results of the aforementioned performance and effectiveness assessment and recommendations for future actions.
Nspire Outreach does not meet this Standard because:
It did not produce a written report outlining the results of its most recent effectiveness assessment.
Standard 11: Financial Statements - Make available to all, on request, complete annual financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. When total annual gross income exceeds $500,000, these statements should be audited in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. For charities whose annual gross income is less than $500,000, a review by a certified public accountant is sufficient to meet this standard. For charities whose annual gross income is less than $250,000, an internally produced, complete financial statement is sufficient to meet this standard.
Nspire Outreach does not meet this Standard because:
It states it does not have audited financial statements for the past fiscal year.
In addition, the BBB of Metro Atlanta, Athens & NE Georgia requested but did not receive complete information on the organization’s governance and oversight, finances, solicitation materials, annual report, and donor privacy and is unable to verify the organization's compliance with the following 12Standards for Charity Accountability: 1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 18.
Nspire Outreach meets the remaining 5 Standards for Charity Accountability."
They sell the clothes they collect, compete with local non profits for resources and take away from efforts to help thousands of homeless people throughout the Southeastern United States so that 80 or so people in their program can thrive. This is not an example of how we help the homeless. Please spread the word and tell your friends and family to help put an end to this horrible theft from the poorest of the poor.
UPDATE: Other names for this same group include Cure Clothing Pick-up, Hope For Domestic Violence, Hope House and Saint David's Community Church. Why so many names?
