More than a dozen church leaders gathered Thursday to urge San Francisco to continue investing in the local Black community through the Dream Keeper Initiative despite reports of mismanagement and conflicts of interest in the program.
Launched by Mayor London Breed in 2021 following the murder of George Floyd, the initiative has sought to invest between $45 million and $60 million a year into organizations and programs that have helped recipients start businesses, buy homes and get job training. But Breed has paused the release of new Dream Keeper funding without stricter controls while the city audits its past spending.
Several church leaders who spoke at the gathering, called by Rev. Amos Brown, a Breed ally, said that the program was being unfairly scrutinized because it benefited Black people, who they felt are held to a higher standard. Others argued that the criticism was motivated in part by Breed facing a tough re-election bid, and rallied to support both her and the program.
“When other people do stuff, they land on their feet somehow,” said Yul Dorn, pastor of Emmanuel Church of God in Christ in San Francisco. “But when we do something, they throw the baby out with the bath water.”
Veronica Shepard, a recently retired Public Health staffer who worked with Dream Keeper recipients, said the initiative produced “outstanding” results. People got jobs, resources and funds that were never dedicated to the community before, she said.
“What bothers me today is that when leaders make mistakes, or fall short, or are falsely accused, they shut down our money,” Shepard said. “We have to continue to fight for what’s ours. That money is sitting there not being utilized, and our community needs it.”
Brown called the gathering — held at the Providence Baptist Church in the Bayview — in honor of Rev. Arnold Townsend, a prominent city leader found dead this week.
The rally comes as Breed faces off in the mayor’s race against challengers who have seized on the problems surrounding Dream Keeper to attack her, spurring concerns that the future of Dream Keeper depends on Breed winning. While her major opponents have called for more scrutiny of the program and changes in its leadership, they have also recognized its importance, and none have said they would abandon it.
Breed’s close ally Sheryl Davis, who led Dream Keeper as the former director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, resigned Sept. 13 at the mayor’s request after the Chronicle published an investigation revealing that her department appeared to skirt city purchasing rules and was found to have failed to properly monitor nonprofits it funded. The Chronicle also reported that Davis was facing a whistleblower complaint that was being forwarded to the FBI and accused her of directing a nonprofit to book a $10,000 rental at Martha’s Vineyard.
It was also revealed before her resignation that Davis lived with James Spingola, the head of one of the largest recipients of Dream Keeper funding, Collective Impact, as the San Francisco Standard first reported. Her attorney has since acknowledged that she made a “mistake” when she failed to disclose her ties to Spingola when she signed contracts with him to fund Collective Impact with up to $1.5 million in Dream Keeper dollars.
Shawn Richard, who heads the anti-violence group Brothers Against Guns, urged those at the gathering to support Breed.
“Somebody made a mistake,” Richard said. “But it wasn’t the mayor’s fault.”
Brown announced a five-point plan in honor of Townsend that called for the city retaining Dream Keeper under new leadership and urging the media to “cease casting Black city leaders accused of malfeasance as guilty before they have been tried and convicted.”
The plan also called for putting together a Black voter registration drive, following through with plans to restore the Fillmore Heritage Center and organizing volunteers to help the San Francisco Unified School District close the achievement gap for Black students.