jonetta rose barras: Is a nonprofit jeopardizing an affordable housing site in DC?

The house at 1304 Euclid St. NW has a long history as a low-cost refuge for people living on the margins of DC’s economy. Initially, it was one of a few houses connected to Mitch Snyder, a now-deceased popular local and national homeless advocate who co-founded the Community for Creative Non-Violence (CCNV).

In the late 1980s, Pete Farina was working at the group’s downtown shelter when he was asked whether he would be willing to serve as the on-site manager of the Euclid Street space called the Victor Howell House, which included a basement, six bedrooms, three baths, a living room and a dining room. At the time there were at least 14 people who called it home. Farina agreed to run the place.

While the other early residents eventually left, Farina has stayed on for more than 30 years at the place. “It was clear to me like I had never seen before or experienced — there was this problem out there called homelessness,” he explained to me during an extensive in-person interview earlier this month. “When I got to [CCNV], I didn’t have any income, but I had savings. 

“When I got to the house [in 1989], I wasn’t provided any income. I got my own job to support myself and contribute to the expenses of the house,” continued Farina. “I soon realized that if somebody didn’t keep this place going, it was going to close with the people in it.”

Later, he would embark on a long search to find someone to purchase the home and keep it affordable in a rapidly gentrifying community. In 2000, Farina thought he had solved the problem, joining forces with people at the All Souls Housing Group. 

Now, however, Farina may be back where he started. Equally disturbing, his prediction of eviction may come true. 

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A never-ending struggle

This chronicle covers just one of the thousands of battles against market forces fought each day by the many DC residents desperate to hold onto the place they call home. The difference between the fight being waged by Farina and his housemates is that their adversary is a nonprofit organization: the Janet Keenan Housing Corp. (JKHC), which was expressly established to purchase Howell House and rescue Farina and others living there. 

“Janet Keenan probably is turning over in her grave with all the shenanigans in her name,” said Julia Morton, who has been involved in nonprofit housing development for three decades.

Keenan was president of All Souls Housing Group for many years. Morton was vice president. However, in 2000, when Farina went looking for a buyer after the longtime owner expressed an intent to sell, Keenan had died and Morton had taken the helm.

The church-affiliated housing corporation agreed to purchase the Euclid Street property for less than $200,000, creating a separate entity, as is standard practice in the city. The express purpose of this spinoff, named in honor of Keenan, was to provide affordable housing.

Members of Keenan’s family and Morton assumed positions on the board of directors. Farina was also named to ensure that Howell House residents were involved in running and managing the corporation and that their interests were interwoven in the nonprofit’s business. 

Morton said the Keenans seemed to become power-hungry. “They kicked me off the board,” she said. “They kicked Pete off the board. They didn’t engage him in any productive or self-empowering way. 

“They neglected what was a naturally occurring low-income [affordable] house,” added Morton.

The lack of investment may have been by design. One day in 2018, government inspectors arrived at Howell House and cited it for several violations, one of which resulted in the basement being pulled out of commission; it was where Farina had his bedroom and office. 

Farina remembered receiving a telephone call from Keenan’s daughter, Margaret Keenan Albamonte, telling him: “If it were up to me, that house would be condemned and all of you would be thrown out.”

“Then she hung up,” said Farina, adding, “I remember thinking that I had just got the most terrifying call of my life.”

John Keenan, president and chief executive officer of the JKHC, declined my request for an interview to respond to this and other allegations.

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Money, money, money

JKHC didn’t end up relying on the government to do its dirty work via condemnation proceedings, however. Last year it tried to sell the house out from under Farina and the others for an asking price of $750,000, well over three times the purchase price two decades earlier. 

It may have violated the city’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, which requires owners to inform renters they have the right to present a counterproposal if the property where they live is placed on the market. In 2018, the DC Council — persuaded by at-large member Anita Bonds, then-chair of the housing committee — exempted single-family dwellings like Howell House from TOPA, unless occupied by disabled or elderly residents. Farina, by DC government law, meets the latter definition.

JKHC may also have run afoul of DC’s nonprofit laws by attempting “to sell the property for private purposes,” according to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG). The agency’s lawyers attempted to stop the sale of Howell House, sending what they called a “standstill letter.” 

On Sept. 14, JKHC, through its lawyer, sent an email to the OAG that indicated it “did not agree with the District’s request.”

In November, the OAG went to court to stop the sale — after JKHC signed a contract without any formal notice to the residents who lived there. Then-Attorney General Karl Racine also filed a lawsuit in DC Superior Court. 

That complaint accused JKHC of “unauthorized diversion of [a] charitable asset; abusing or exceeding authority conferred by law” under DC Code 29-412.20 (a)(1)(B); “acting contrary to nonprofit purpose”; and various “common law” violations. 

“DC is in the midst of a housing crisis and longtime Black, brown, and low-income residents are being pushed out of the city they call home. Organizations that claim not for profit status are granted favorable tax benefits in exchange for their promise to fulfill their non-profit mission,” Racine said in a prepared statement after he won a temporary restraining order against JKHC. 

He accused the nonprofit of falsely claiming that it was “focused on providing needed affordable housing, when, in fact, the company prioritized profits in housing over genuine affordable housing work.”

I met Farina years ago when he was among a group of residents advocating for greater economic equity in DC. More recently, I learned of his fight to preserve the affordability of Howell House in the fast-changing Columbia Heights neighborhood. 

When AG Racine’s statement arrived in my inbox, I was pleasantly surprised that he had decided to take on the Howell House cause; it was not one of those big glitzy cases that had already grabbed headlines before the OAG became involved. 

In a recent email sent through his spokesperson, current AG Brian Schwalb seemed to suggest that he is committed to following through on the litigation, although he said he is reviewing “all cases and investigations that are underway.”

“My office will continue to use every tool available to make sure District residents are protected and hold accountable any organization that violates District law,” he added. 

In declining my request for an interview, John Keenan said in an email that JKHC is preparing for upcoming court hearings and is “not at liberty to discuss details.” However, he asserted that the group “has been wrongly targeted by the DC OAG, largely owing to misleading information being provided to the OAG.”

A nonjury trial is scheduled for May unless the parties reach a settlement.

Truth be told, the fight waged by Farina and Howell House residents isn’t all that different from those involving many other tenants. Fortunately, the AG’s office during Racine’s eight-year tenure spared some renters the humiliating and frightening experience of eviction. The OAG successfully forced some big landlords to pay restitution to low-income residents who endured housing code violations and various despicable tactics intended to push them out of their homes.

Racine did not target nonprofit housing providers. However, they can be driven by money just like commercial developers. 

Morton told me that nonprofit landlords that want to renovate their property often try to secure housing vouchers for their existing residents and make agreements to allow them to return once the renovations have been completed. This is a way to help obtain funds for the renovations — or, perhaps more frequently, to reduce opposition to redevelopment.

In this instance, no such agreement was made by JKHC. If it had been, this case might not have come under the OAG’s legal hammer.

It’s worth mentioning here that in September, members of JKHC’s board met with Howell House residents informing them of an upcoming open house related to the sale of the property. They asked that the residents permit the real estate agent from Compass to have access to the house and that the “residents not be present at the property during the open house,” according to the OAG’s complaint.

After that meeting, John Keenan and Albamonte had a private conversation with Farina. They “offered him $50,000” in cash in exchange for him agreeing to leave the property voluntarily, according to the OAG complaint. 

And that, dear readers, makes clear the thin line between for-profit and nonprofit.

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An uncertain future

The amount offered to Farina is not nearly enough. Since 2000, he has served as manager of JKHC’s property, interviewing potential tenants and collecting monthly rents while ensuring the place is kept safe and clean. 

Farina paid his full, undiscounted, established rent. He was never paid by JKHC for his duties as the property manager, however.

Count that as another apparent violation: abuse of local labor laws. Maybe the OAG will help Farina collect his outstanding wages.

Actually, it’s not clear what comes next. The OAG has asked the court to prevent JKHC from “selling or diverting the property from its charitable purpose; to appoint a receiver or other court-supervised official to ensure the property continues to be used as housing for low-income District residents; to reform JKHC’s board of directors; and to create a trust or other form of monetary relief over any non-profit funds received in violation of District law.”

Morton, who spoke with me in her private capacity, mentioned that All Souls Housing Corp. has been approached about whether it would be willing to serve as a receiver, if the court orders one. It was also asked whether it would be willing to accept a transfer of the property. The organization’s board likely would have to make those decisions.

Meanwhile, Farina and his housemates have created their own nonprofit, calling it Victor Howell House Inc. He said they may apply for a federal tax exemption, which could position them to be the beneficiaries, if the court forces JKHC to transfer, rather than sell, its assets.

After more than 30 years of fighting to preserve affordable housing, Farina could certainly count that outcome as a victory. It may seem a small one in the larger battle, but given the fact that hundreds of District residents have lived in Howell House over the past three decades, it’s safe to assume that just as many, if not more, could be spared from joining the growing ranks of this country’s unhoused in the coming years.

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jonetta rose barras is an author and freelance journalist, covering national and local issues including politics, childhood trauma, public education, economic development and urban public policies. She can be reached at thebarrasreport@gmail.com.