POUGHKEEPSIE – Seven homeless men have come forward to say they were part of a group of men recruited at a Poughkeepsie homeless shelter to act as veterans that had been displaced from a Newburgh hotel in order for a non-profit organization to perpetrate a fraud on the public.
The men told Mid-Hudson News on Thursday night that they were part of a group of 15 men that were supposed to pretend they were veterans that had been kicked out of the Crossroads Hotel in the Town of Newburgh last Friday, in advance of the arrival of migrants brought up from New York City.
The saga of the displaced veterans received national attention when Assemblyman Brian Maher stepped in to denounce the hotel’s actions and grabbed headlines along with an appearance on a conservative tv network to raise money for the YIT Foundation, which claims had housed the homeless veterans at the hotel.
The foundation and its director, Sharon Toney-Finch, appear to have fabricated the entire story, causing Maher to admit yesterday that he had been duped by Finch and her lies.
“When Sharon and several veterans explained to me their situation, I believed them at their word,” Maher said Friday. “I had absolutely no knowledge of any wrongdoing and believed that their stories were real until a phone conversation with Sharon yesterday afternoon when she explained to me that this did not happen the way she purported it to.”
Finch’s story began to unravel last Monday after Mid-Hudson News began looking into the plight of the displaced veterans. An investigation by Mid-Hudson News uncovered a series of lies that led to the belief that the veterans Finch claimed were displaced, did not even exist.
On Thursday night he met with a group of seven men at a homeless shelter. The men said that on Wednesday, two people came into the shelter saying they had work and needed 15 men between the ages of 40 and 60, to take a trip to meet with an elected official for a discussion on homelessness. They were each promised $200 along with food and alcohol. They were familiar with one of the recruiters, Diana, claiming she had previously stayed at the shelter.
Andrew O’Grady, president and CEO of Mental Health America of Dutchess County (MHA Dutchess) also attended the roundtable conversation. O’Grady said “It was brought to my attention that two people came to the homeless shelter in Poughkeepsie and recruited 15 of our homeless guests under the guise of meeting a politician in Connecticut about homeless issues.” He was summoned there to offer assistance to the group and said he attended because the incident “concerned me greatly as vulnerable homeless individuals were bribed to pretend to be Veterans. I was asked to speak to them because they were distraught that they never received payment.”
Once recruited, the men were loaded in vehicles and transported to the Daily Planet Diner in LaGrange where they were joined by a third person, now identified as Sharon Toney-Finch. Finch told the men they could order anything they wanted from the menu and their drinks were also being paid for.
“We ate like kings,” said one of the men who asked to remain nameless. “Sharon introduced herself and told us we could have whatever we wanted and she would pick up the tab.” After eating and drinking, Finch gathered the men in the parking lot to explain the actual “work” they were about to perform.
One of the men said Finch told them they were going to a meeting where she would be explaining how they had been kicked out of a hotel to make room for migrants. “She told us to act like we were the veterans that had been displaced. And she told us that if asked, we were supposed to say we had been kicked out and Sharon found us rooms in Fishkill.” He also noted that men who were unwilling to answer were told to respond with “I am too traumatized to talk about it,” if asked.
The men described the building they were taken to in New Windsor. Based on the description they provided, the Mid-Hudson News reporter determined that the meeting took place at the Orange County Veteran Center in New Windsor.
After the men described the woman who was asking Finch about the ordeal, the reporter showed them a picture of a woman. The men all agreed that the woman in the picture was the one asking questions. They positively identified Orange County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Heather Bell-Meyer.
Bell-Meyer was interviewed by Mid-Hudson News this past Monday at the center. She indicated that Assemblyman Maher had asked her to visit the center and see what assistance he could offer the veterans. Bell-Meyer also stated that she is an Advisory Board Committee Member of the YIT Foundation which is run by Finch.
On Friday morning, Finch admitted to Mid-Hudson News that her volunteer, Diana, arranged to pick the men up from the shelter and bring them to meet Finch at the Daily Planet Diner in LaGrange before they all traveled to New Windsor for the meeting with Ms. Bell-Meyer.
Finch said that Bell-Meyer had demanded to meet the displaced veterans in person. Rather than do that, Finch said she provided the men from the shelter to appear as if they were the displaced vets. Finch however denies offering to pay each of the men $200 for their job as actors. “I bought them lunch and that was it,” Finch exclaimed.
Bell-Meyer did not return a call and text regarding the meeting prior to publication. On Thursday, May 18, the Orange County Chamber of Commerce issued a statement saying “The Chamber was contacted by our elected officials to facilitate a conversation regarding what is going on with our members and how this situation would impact their businesses. We are grateful that the Chamber is a valued resource for all our members.” Sharon Finch’s YIT Foundation is a member of the Orange County Chamber as is many of the corporate sponsors of her foundation.
