Condensed article.
[Nearly 18 years after a bomb ripped apart a federal building in Oklahoma City, more than $12 million in donated funds remains and survivors say the foundation in charge of most of it has denied requests for surgery, tuition and other needs donors intended to be funded.
More than $40 million in donations poured in to local and national charities. Of that, $14.6 million was consolidated under the control of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation.
The foundation is an umbrella organization established in 1969 that administers more than 1,200 nonprofit funds with combined assets of more than $632 million.
Records show $10.4 million remained in the foundation's Oklahoma City Disaster Relief Fund as of June 30, 2011, the latest year records are available.
Nancy Anthony, president of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, said the foundation provides thorough oversight of the funds. Because of its sound investment, the foundation has been able to stretch initial donations for many years, Anthony said.
Some bombing survivors contacted by the Tulsa World said they had no idea funds remained and were never contacted by the foundation to determine whether they had unmet needs. The fund isn't included on a list of funds on the community foundation's website...
In a 2001 New York Times article, Anthony was quoted as saying: "There's a culture of victimhood, made up of people whose identity as Victim of the Oklahoma City Bombing gave them importance and visibility they'd never had before."
In 2005, Anthony told the Chicago Tribune: "The perception of people, unfortunately, is that you need to give people money and that money will make them feel better. Well, it probably does make them feel better. But heroin makes them feel better for a short time, too."
Anthony told the World: "There are no happily-ever-after stories here. ... We knew that lots of times they were angry at us just because they were going through that anger process."
Meanwhile, Watson and other survivors interviewed by the World said the fund refused to pay for services clearly connected to the bombing.
Laverne McCloud, whose daughter, Nekia, was 4 when the bombing occurred, said: "I feel that the money is out there, but I feel like they just don't want you to have access to it."
McCloud, 50, said the bombing fund helped her initially with Nekia's medical bills and living expenses. Nekia suffered a severe head injury in the building's day-care center.
But when McCloud returned to work at a secretarial job, officials in charge of the bombing fund told her to apply for SoonerCare, McCloud said. She said the foundation also refused to allow Nekia to be treated by the doctor of her choice.
McCloud said she gave up trying to get the fund to pay for Nekia's ongoing expenses, which are considerable, about 10 years ago. She said taxpayers shouldn't have to foot the bill for her daughter's medical care - SoonerCare is funded by Medicaid dollars - when millions of dollars remain in the fund....]
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20121104_11_A1_ULNSie379818
[Nearly 18 years after a bomb ripped apart a federal building in Oklahoma City, more than $12 million in donated funds remains and survivors say the foundation in charge of most of it has denied requests for surgery, tuition and other needs donors intended to be funded.
More than $40 million in donations poured in to local and national charities. Of that, $14.6 million was consolidated under the control of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation.
The foundation is an umbrella organization established in 1969 that administers more than 1,200 nonprofit funds with combined assets of more than $632 million.
Records show $10.4 million remained in the foundation's Oklahoma City Disaster Relief Fund as of June 30, 2011, the latest year records are available.
Nancy Anthony, president of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, said the foundation provides thorough oversight of the funds. Because of its sound investment, the foundation has been able to stretch initial donations for many years, Anthony said.
Some bombing survivors contacted by the Tulsa World said they had no idea funds remained and were never contacted by the foundation to determine whether they had unmet needs. The fund isn't included on a list of funds on the community foundation's website...
In a 2001 New York Times article, Anthony was quoted as saying: "There's a culture of victimhood, made up of people whose identity as Victim of the Oklahoma City Bombing gave them importance and visibility they'd never had before."
In 2005, Anthony told the Chicago Tribune: "The perception of people, unfortunately, is that you need to give people money and that money will make them feel better. Well, it probably does make them feel better. But heroin makes them feel better for a short time, too."
Anthony told the World: "There are no happily-ever-after stories here. ... We knew that lots of times they were angry at us just because they were going through that anger process."
Meanwhile, Watson and other survivors interviewed by the World said the fund refused to pay for services clearly connected to the bombing.
Laverne McCloud, whose daughter, Nekia, was 4 when the bombing occurred, said: "I feel that the money is out there, but I feel like they just don't want you to have access to it."
McCloud, 50, said the bombing fund helped her initially with Nekia's medical bills and living expenses. Nekia suffered a severe head injury in the building's day-care center.
But when McCloud returned to work at a secretarial job, officials in charge of the bombing fund told her to apply for SoonerCare, McCloud said. She said the foundation also refused to allow Nekia to be treated by the doctor of her choice.
McCloud said she gave up trying to get the fund to pay for Nekia's ongoing expenses, which are considerable, about 10 years ago. She said taxpayers shouldn't have to foot the bill for her daughter's medical care - SoonerCare is funded by Medicaid dollars - when millions of dollars remain in the fund....]
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20121104_11_A1_ULNSie379818
