Enrichmond, the organization in charge of East End and Evergreen Cemeteries, has collapsed. Its attorney announced in late June that the nonprofit is dissolving itself.
Since then, Enrichmond’s members and the government officials who funded the organization have, for the most part, gone silent. But with 76 sacred—and poorly tended—acres in the balance, plus the funds of more than 80 community partners, Enrichmond and its powerful backers can’t simply ignore their liability, then walk away from it.
A Richmond city council member has called for a forensic audit. AmeriCorps, which partnered with the defunct group, already has an audit of Enrichmond that it won't release.
We are calling for the government entities that have worked with Enrichmond to release records of the hundreds of thousands of dollars they gave this failed entity. Why? So the community can reclaim some of that money, where possible. So this never happens again. And so we can move forward with a descendant-centered, community-based plan to preserve and protect these fragile Black burial grounds.
Please keep an eye out for specific calls to action.