Departure from mission

I would like to clear up a few misunderstandings in the narrative put forth by Ms. Jayne and Ms. Gaudreau in a recent Downtown article.

Setting up a new foundation to serve other non-profits and selling the House to fund it is a complete departure from The Community House’s original mission.  

Since the beginning, all charitable activities were either carried out on the House premises or by other non-profit, philanthropic/and or civic organizations that met on the premises. 

The Community House’s original mission was to serve as a community center for Birmingham, providing educational, social and civic activities, as well as cultural events, and also to rent banquet and meeting space, or to provide it free of charge, depending on need..  

The overriding purpose of The Community House Association has always been to preserve the building. To assert otherwise is a gross distortion. Such a revision of the mission appears solely attributable to Camille Jayne, who, during her first tenure as CEO, insisted that any activity run by the House had to also partially support outside non-profits.  

The mindset, fostered by Ms. Jayne and her successor Mr. Seklar, that every activity had to be not just break-even but highly profitable, led, gradually then all at once, to the hollowing out of programming, alienating supporters and donors.

Now, the board proposes to walk away, leaving multitudes of donors, testators, foundations and volunteers who have gifted money and time, holding the bag. Not to mention The Community House employees, as well as patrons who rely on its event, banquet and early childhood center.

The association has exploited the secrecy afforded a private non-profit to avoid public scrutiny as it adopted this shocking stratagem. However ,it is also a private non-profit that swore to carry out a public purpose. The board and the management of The Community House are reneging on that promise.  

The founders envisioned that something like this might happen, which is why they established a supervisory trust and deeded the property into it. In 1990, the deed restrictions were carried over by the probate court to caution the association that their primary charge was to steward the property for the benefit of the public. 

Now, the association has abandoned its purpose, triggering the condition that the building be conveyed to an entity—the city?—that will ensure that the building continue to function as a community center.

The House has undergone many fiscal crises during the last one hundred years. Never was it contemplated that the solution was to sell the house out from under the community. Donors should not ever have to assume the risk that a charity will arbitrarily shut itself down. Or worse, attempt to hawk the object of their bounty at a profit which will then be spent in ways donors never intended.

I urge all concerned to express your opinion to cjayne@communityhousehelps.org, with copies to city-commission@bhamgov.org and Michigan's attorney general at miag@michigan.gov.

Kathleen Devereaux

Birmingham