Shelter Denies Getting Brown Charity’s Grant

A Los Angeles County women’s shelter listed in tax forms filed by the Nicole Brown Charitable Foundation as having received a $2,000 grant in 1995 never got the money, according to the director of the program that serves abused women.

Angel Step Inn program director Patricia King said the shelter has never applied for a grant but did receive an unsolicited $25 check last Christmas.

“I had our funding director and public relations director check our files, but we couldn’t find any evidence of a check” for the larger sum, King said. “We never got $2,000 from them.”

Denise Brown, chairman of the foundation named in her murdered sister’s honor, declined to comment last week, saying she did not have a list of the shelters awarded money by the organization in 1995.

“Until I get to the bottom of this, I am not making one single comment. I’m tired of people trying to make us look bad,” Brown said.

However, Stella Plunkett, a volunteer at the foundation appointed by Brown to research the issue, said there’s no record of the grant.

“We’ve gone through the list twice and haven’t found Angel Step Inn, except for a $25 donation made to them last year.”

Plunkett called the inclusion of Angel Step Inn among the grant recipients “a simple mistake . . . a clerical error.”

IRS spokesman Chris Conley said that if there was a mistake made in the foundation’s tax return, “it’s not really a tax issue . . . it’s an accounting issue.” Because the foundation is a not-for-profit organization, it only has to amend and correct the returns for the succeeding years, he said.

The Times reported earlier this month that the Nicole Brown Charitable Foundation has substantially reduced what it had given to charity in the past two years while spending more than ever in staff salaries.

The foundation has given $5,630 in the past two years while taking in about $147,000. During the life of the foundation, established in 1994, it has taken in about $800,000, not including interest, and given away $274,000.

Overall, the foundation has given about 36% of what it has taken in to charity, while the National Charities Information Bureau in New York says the goal should be between 60% and 70%.

The foundation’s 1995 federal tax return lists 79 shelters, including Angel Step Inn, as recipients of $165,000 in grants made by the organization. According to the tax return, 77 groups received $2,000 each, while one received $1,500 and another $10,000.

The Times contacted 22 shelters listed on the foundation’s 1995 tax return, and Angel Step Inn was the only one that reported not receiving money from the foundation that year.

King said Angel Step Inn opened Sept. 1, 1995, to assist battered women with drug and alcohol problems. The shelter is run by Southern California Drug and Alcohol Program Corp.

Plans for the shelter began after Nicole Brown Simpson’s murder in 1994. Her ex-husband, O.J. Simpson, was acquitted of her killing and that of her friend Ronald Lyle Goldman but was found liable in a subsequent civil case.

King said that officials from the parent company initially wanted to name the shelter after Nicole Brown Simpson, and sought the Brown family’s permission. A meeting was arranged with Denise Brown in the summer of 1995 to do just that, King said.

“Given Nicole’s history as a battered wife, we thought it was perfect to name the center for her. We thought it was a good way to honor her,” King said. “We had a meeting scheduled with Denise Brown to discuss it, but she never showed up. She never even called to cancel.”

According to King, a second meeting was arranged, but Denise Brown called to say she was ill and canceled. After that, shelter officials ended their attempt to name the center after Simpson.

Speaking through Plunkett, Denise Brown said she did meet with representatives of Angel Step Inn but she did not offer details of the meeting. Plunkett said the Brown family was reluctant to associate the foundation with programs that assist people who abuse drugs and alcohol.