Director of Shelter for Homeless Fired for Funds Misuse

The board of directors of a homeless shelter has fired its executive director after he acknowledged the misuse of agency funds.

Michael Elias, who had held the post since February, 1988, was not present Thursday when the directors of the Rio Hondo Temporary Home voted unanimously to dismiss him.

Board President Myron Claxton said directors voted after Elias failed to account for $14,495 in shelter checks cashed in September to December of last year.

Elias could not be reached for comment last week. But he admitted in a handwritten letter to directors that he had “misused agency funds.”

Elias said he had used an unspecified amount of money to help the homeless, not for personal benefit.

“My goal is to pay every misused dollar back,” Elias wrote in the March 16 letter.

He also said in the letter: “I am an addict, not to alcohol or drugs, but to helping people.”

Claxton said the letter and other information gathered in an in-house investigation would be turned over to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Claxton, who also is a Whittier councilman, said he thinks that Elias is committed to helping the homeless but went astray.

“He did wrong,” Claxton said. “We’re very sorry for him, but he did wrong.”

Board member William Loehr was less sympathetic, calling Elias a “con man.”

The Rio Hondo Temporary Home is a nonprofit organization that provides housing and counseling to Southeast Los Angeles County homeless families.

The shelter, on the Metropolitan State Hospital grounds in Norwalk, contains 27 bedrooms for families and three dormitories for single men and women. This year’s $380,000 budget is provided by several Southeast cities, churches, businesses and organizations.

Claxton said shelter officials became suspicious of Elias in October, when receipts for some spending could not be found.

Then in December, the directors received an unsigned letter accusing Elias of pilfering shelter money, among other things.

Elias went on sick leave in January after he was questioned. He never returned to the shelter.

The directors hired an accounting firm in February to review the shelter’s books. The firm, Moreland & Associates of Newport Beach, confirmed what had been suspected: $14,495 in general operating money was not accounted for.

Next month, Moreland & Associates is scheduled to suggest ways to improve the shelter’s administrative and accounting procedures, officials said.

Shelter officials are withholding about $3,000 in salary and vacation pay owed Elias until he accounts for the missing money, Claxton said.

The missing money did little damage to the shelter, which has enough to operate through June, said Betty Shaw, interim executive director of the facility. Continuing grants are expected and new money will be sought, she said.

Elias, who also headed a homeless shelter in Orange County, was the first permanent executive director of the Rio Hondo Temporary Home.

The shelter opened in the summer of 1988 and handles more than 100 residents on any given night. There were 101 people at the shelter one night last week, said Shaw, who had been the shelter’s office manager.

Elias’ actions have saddened some staff members. Shaw described Elias as an innovator who is dedicated to helping the homeless and was instrumental in setting up the shelter’s job placement program, among other things.

“It was hard on all of us to face what was happening,” she said. “He was a friend. This place would not be the place it is today if it hadn’t been for his foresight.”

The directors said the problems with Elias apparently have not eroded much of the shelter’s support. So far, just one city has withheld a grant: Downey has told shelter officials that it will not release more than $11,000 in grant money until the problems are resolved.

“I would hope the people would realize how important this shelter is,” Loehr said. “We’re cleaning house.