One of San Diego’s largest foster care charities is moving millions of dollars into a Montana company that doesn’t do very much, investigative reporter Will Huntsberry found in a new story.
New Alternatives gets tens of millions of dollars each year in taxpayer funds to provide a large part of the foster care infrastructure in both San Diego and Orange counties. It also gets a small amount from fundraising. What money New Alternatives has left over it pumps into another charity called MAC Foundation. New Alternatives started MAC in 2014.
But aside from funding one study, MAC has only ever spent money on one thing: paying New Alternatives’ CEO Michael Bruich.
MAC was sitting on $20.6 million in 2022, according to its most recent tax returns.
Reshae Cuevas formerly lived in a New Alternatives facility and later worked at the charity.
“It doesn’t make me angry. It makes me disappointed,” said Cuevas. “I had a good experience as a kid. It was my safe space. But I don’t have anything to compare it to as a child. As a staff member I was wondering where the money was.”
Parking millions in a related organization isn’t illegal, but it is unusual for a charity.
New Alternatives’ and MAC’s boards are also unusual. They are made up almost entirely of people with personal connections to Bruich. One board member is his wife. Three others played on Harvard University’s football team with him in the 1970’s and do not live in California.
Trans Women Seeking Asylum Capture Their Journeys Through Photography
In Tijuana, a shelter called Casita de U.T. that houses and supports trans women, many of them seeking asylum and safety in the United States, is also finding creative ways to empower them.
Many trans women who have faced violence and hardships in Central America, Mexico and other countries often seek asylum in the United States. While they’re waiting for their cases to process, some women stay at Casita de U.T., a safe place for women seeking refuge.
Recently, some of the women at the shelter participated in a six-week photography workshop led by photographer Alexa Macias. Their photography was then shown in an exhibition.
Voice contributor Kate Morrissey writes that the aim of the project was to empower the women to take up space and show the community that they will be heard, seen and respected.
Vista To Consider Bringing Back Homeless Camping Ban
A homeless camping ban that has been on pause in Vista may soon be enforced again.
In 1968, the city of Vista banned camping on any public property throughout the city, but a decision by a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the 2018 Martin v. Boise case put that ban on hold. The ruling prohibited cities from enforcing anti-camping restrictions if there were no shelter beds available.
So, Vista stopped enforcing its total ban on camping in public. But that could change at tonight’s City Council meeting.
City leaders will consider bringing back the city’s homeless camping ban following a recent Supreme Court ruling in the Grants Pass case, which overturned Martin v. Boise and now allows cities to enforce camping bans regardless of whether shelter beds are available.
And just a couple of weeks ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom doubled down, issuing an executive order directing cities to clear homeless encampments.
Vista has 170 unsheltered homeless people according to this year’s point-in-time count. That’s a 93.2 percent increase from last year’s homeless census, which counted 88 unsheltered homeless people in Vista.
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In Other News
- Consent forms given to students in San Diego Unified’s Junior ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) are drawing concern from local Chicano community leaders who say the form doesn’t give students enough information for fully informed consent. Data shows that JROTC members are more likely to join the military, and the majority of JROTC members are typically non-white and come from low-income families. (KPBS)
- Fundraising momentum has switched in the race to become San Diego’s new city attorney. Campaign records show that Heather Ferbert has outraised Brian Maienschein since finishing six percentage points ahead of Maienschein in the March Primary. (Union-Tribune)
- The Pauma Band of Luiseno Indians now has new machines that supply Narcan, kind of like a Narcan vending machine. It’s part of a larger effort to reduce harm caused by fentanyl. (KPBS)
The Morning Report was written by Will Huntsberry and Tigist Layne. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.