208,078 New Listings - November 2009 - Last update November 20, 2009 12:30 PM EST 
Bay Area Foreclosure Spared
It looks like the end has not yet come for the only homeless shelter for men in Almada
County, which was closed down by the federal government. The Human Outreach Agency was notified in October that the IRS was contemplating on putting its building,, located on the Flagg Street
, under foreclosure. The cause, they say, are the unpaid taxes. As the support from its main funders disappears, the Agency directors were already foreseeing the closure of Human Outreach in less than a year.
The scenario changed when The Daily Review covered a story highlighting the agency’s financial trouble and its fragile relationships with its donors: the city of
Hayward and the Alameda County Social Services Agency. The IRS apparently gave the Agency a second chance by reviewing their decision regarding the foreclosure to one of abeyance. However, Human Outreach has not yet been out of trouble. Despite operating for 30 years, shaky waters still surround it. The IRS has only deferred its plea regarding foreclosure, and complete withdrawal is still wishful. The Agency did get however, got the time that it was craving for so desperately. The pressure has eased up according to Attillio Giovanatto, the agency’s board member as well as advisor, though the foreclosure is still being viewed as inevitable.
The agency ran into problems when the ex-director of the Agency, Israel Chideya was reportedly discovered to be defaulting payroll taxes to the Internal Revenue Service by the board of directors. He left the Agency in 2002, and directors have since lost contact with Chideya. Persistent attempts to reach him, even by the press, have run in vain.
Human Outreach had been foreseeing its foreclosure since last year, when Hayward
City and County Social Services Agency pulled their funding. Both agencies are still reluctant about continuing the financial support. Succumbing to the pressure, The Human Outreach is taking in clients who can pay for themselves for the services. However, the unfortunate situation has been favoring the Agency, according to Cherise Abel, executive director of the Human Outreach. He says Human Outreach is about to launch a campaign to get private donors involved and, despite the loss of two of its main fund providers, the agency is still hoping for some other sources of funding, including self-sufficiency.
‘There is hope with what’s left,’ He says: ‘there is no money, but we can survive if we get the support’.
The agency is expected to get to know by next week from the IRS, how much time it is spared before the proceedings get restarted. Unless informed otherwise, the agency would explore all ways of staying open, as Giovanatto puts it.
‘We are fighting to stay alive, and will not stop fighting. There are still 20 men in the shelter, men which are still dependent.’
The agency is also contemplating to take in veterans, as many of them can benefit from Human Outreach’s services. That can prove to be another source of funding for the agency in this desperate hour of need.
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We know someone will have to pay for the loss of taxes. It will be interesting to see the laws which change as we weed through the end of this down market.