Head of Baltimore housing nonprofit NEHI resigns as a TV investigation continues

Garrick Good, the executive director of the North East Housing Initiative (NEHI), a Baltimore nonprofit that develops affordable housing, resigned on Tuesday, October 6, Spotlight on Maryland reported. Spotlight, a joint venture of The Baltimore Sun, FOX45 News and WJLA, had sent him questions the day before about past criminal and bankruptcy cases. It says its investigation is continuing.

Good was first listed as NEHI's executive director on the organization's 2017 tax form, according to Spotlight.

What Good said

In an emailed statement, Good said his decision would let NEHI's board and leadership focus on the organization's mission and on "the operational and financial matters presently before the organization." He added: "It should not be construed as an admission concerning any allegation, investigation, or matter presently under review."

Good has told Spotlight that NEHI is under federal investigation over a $2 million anonymous cryptocurrency donation it received last year. No agency has confirmed an investigation in the reporting we reviewed, and no charges have been reported.

The public money

NEHI has received more than $4 million in taxpayer money, Spotlight reported: $3.25 million from Baltimore City since 2023 and $835,000 from the Maryland state government since 2022. Both governments told the outlet they had paused funding to NEHI amid the federal investigation. Baltimore's housing department said it has identified about $122,000 "requiring repayment or reconciliation," and the mayor's office sued NEHI last year to recover $28,443 in unspent grant funds.

Good disputes the scale. He told Spotlight that only about $2.3 million was paid out as reimbursements for housing projects, and that NEHI used the money to develop 42 properties for affordable housing programs. We have not independently verified either account.

What else Spotlight has reported

NEHI has about $2.5 million in outstanding debt, and the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status this year after it failed to file returns for 2023, 2024 and 2025, according to Spotlight. Court records show NEHI gave up two properties in lawsuits over its debts. Two more face the same outcome in pending cases, including one brought by the Baltimore City Mayor and City Council.

In an October 8 follow-up, Spotlight reported from court records that Good pleaded guilty in South Carolina in 2014 to two counts of obtaining property or a signature under false pretenses and was ordered to pay about $579,000 in restitution, and that he filed for bankruptcy three times between 1997 and 2015. Good declined to comment on those cases. The outlet also reported that the city's oversight of the nonprofits it funds does not include background checks on their executives. NEHI's board chair, Danise Dorsey, did not respond to Spotlight's questions about whether the organization checked Good's background before hiring him.

The federal investigation and the questions about how NEHI used its money have not been decided by any court or agency. The reporting we reviewed includes no public statement from NEHI's board.

What boards can check when public money is involved

In our view, public funding raises the stakes on routine governance. Boards of organizations that take city, state or federal money can review a few things now rather than after a reporter calls:

• Filing status. Check the organization's standing in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search and put every Form 990 due date on a shared calendar. As our brief on three missed filings explains, three consecutive years without a required return revokes exemption automatically.
• Conflicts of interest. Keep a written policy, collect annual disclosures from directors and officers, and have related-party dealings reviewed by directors with no stake in them. Form 990 asks whether the organization has such a policy and how it monitors compliance, and the return is public.
• Funder reporting. Reconcile what each funder was told with what was spent. Ask to see reimbursement requests, grant reports and unspent balances, not just a summary.
• Hiring and large gifts. Decide what checks the board expects before it hires an executive, and adopt a gift-acceptance process for large anonymous gifts, including cryptocurrency, before the money is booked. Our piece on what a board is for covers the duties that sit with directors.