Richmond mayoral candidate Michelle Mosby wrote an April 3 email to city council advocating for more funding for Help Me Help You Foundation, a nonprofit she’s run since 2008.
The email was sent about a month before council approved Richmond’s nearly $3 billion budget for the new fiscal year. According to documents, Mosby’s organization saw a 60% decrease in funding between Fiscal Year 2024 and FY25 budgets.
Help Me Help You provides re-entry assistance for people who have been released from jail or prison. According to its website, the group offers help finding transitional housing, job training, and physical and mental health services, among other initiatives.
This year, the city allocated $13,361,734 to Richmond nonprofits in an effort to bolster services for residents. Mosby’s organization was allocated $100,000 for the current fiscal year, according to budget documents, after receiving $200,000 in FY23 and $250,000 in FY24.
Mosby previously served as Ninth District council representative in 2012, and ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2016, pulling in about 5.5% of the vote.
In her April email, she referenced “ongoing chatter” about removing HMHY funding from the budget.
“I am now going to address the elephant in the room; yes, I am running for Mayor, and so is [Councilor Andreas Addison]. How is the taxpayer dollar being spent to provide services to those in need through a [candidate's] organization, that mind you my daughter is in town to learn and take over, any different from the taxpayer continuing to pay council salary,” Mosby wrote.
In a Statement of Economic Interest that Mosby filed with the city registrar, the candidate indicated she receives more than $5,000 in annual compensation from HMHY. She also disclosed ownership of International Hair Salon, located off Forest Hill Avenue.
In the statement, Mosby wrote that her daughter — Meisha Johnson, who lives in Texas and currently is HMHY’s program director — will assume the executive position, if she wins the mayoral election.
Don Mark, senior advisor to her campaign, told VPM News that Mosby is proud of HMHY’s work and that she remains committed to the community — whether her name is on the ballot or not.
“When Michelle is elected as Mayor, there is a plan in place for her to step aside from Help Me Help You and firewall off any decisions made between the city and nonprofit,” Mark wrote in a statement.
In an effort to stand up a “guaranteed income pilot program for returning residents,” the city executed two contracts in 2023 and 2024 with HMHY, each for $250,000. That funding was in addition to the yearly non-departmental allocation.
Josh Stanfield, an open-government advocate, submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for Mosby’s April email. After narrowing that request, he was told it would cost $233.30 to retrieve the single piece of correspondence.
Mosby’s email went on to claim her organization was being overlooked — and slowly defunded. Council president Kristen Nye told VPM News the non-departmental funding process is vetted and administered by the city administration, but declined to comment on individual organizations’ allocations.
If the city were to continue funding HMHY, Mosby serving as mayor could raise ethical concerns.
“[I]t is not illegal for Ms. Mosby to be mayor and run a [nonprofit] that receives city grants. However, the question will be what role she has in awarding the grants that her not for profit receives,” said Karen A. Greenaway, an anti-corruption advocate. “However, even if she decides on her own that there is no conflict and it turns out there is, don't expect anyone to do anything about it, because our ethics bodies which enforce our conflict of interest law in Virginia exist in name only.”
Editor’s note: Questions about this article should be directed to VPM News Director Elliott Robinson.
