Edward Burroughs’ preferred nonprofit provides glowing presentation in lieu of pending audit

Prince George’s County Council member Edward Burroughs initially billed Tuesday’s meeting as a chance for financial scrutiny of a nonprofit to which he has close ties.

But the firm tasked with conducting an audit of the organization, Joan’s House, needed more time.

“As soon as this audit is complete, Joan’s House will notify the council and provide the findings,” Brianna Boston, the organization’s interim executive director, said Tuesday.

Burroughs instead used the meeting to highlight the impact of Joan’s House programs and counter recent scrutiny of the organization, including his connections to it.

The council members seeking answers about Joan’s House and Burroughs’ efforts to award the organization millions in public funds said they were unable to ask questions Tuesday because their microphones were disabled.

During the meeting, young people shared how Joan’s House programs had expanded their worlds. Mothers said the programs altered the trajectory of their children’s lives. Older adults spoke of the lawn care and snow removal services they had received.

One woman said she had bragged at her water aerobics class about being represented by Burroughs, who wiped away tears as some thanked him for the programs.

Ibrahim Shah said he had learned about leadership, public speaking and professional development. The program helped him land his first job.

“The opportunities that this program provides are opportunities you will never see in any other program,” the Oxon Hill High School junior said Tuesday.

Council Chair Krystal Oriadha, herself closely tied to a local organization under similar scrutiny, lauded Burroughs and the work of Joan’s House.

She’s pushing to establish a program in her district similar to Joan’s House’s Student Leadership Academy.

“It should be duplicated,” she said.

Only Burroughs and Oriadha offered comments or asked questions during the meeting.

Council members Jolene Ivey and Sydney Harrison, who have been critical of Burroughs for steering millions of public dollars to Joan’s House and called for the independent audit of the organization’s funding, said after the meeting that their microphones were turned off, preventing them from weighing in.

“I just sat here for three hours, listening. And I have more questions than I did when I walked in the room this morning,” Harrison said to a group of reporters.

Joan’s House representatives on Tuesday offered a lengthy presentation demonstrating the impact of its programs.

Their slides included tallies of the number of people who’ve benefited from the organization’s programs and video montages showing educational and recreational trips for kids, including snow tubing in Massanutten with Burroughs and flying to Puerto Rico.

“I truly believe that a child’s socioeconomic status should not deter them from being able to experience all that life has for them,” Burroughs said.

During the presentation, Burroughs made a show of questioning Joan’s House representatives for proof of its positive impact. How could the community trust their claims about growing enrollment in the Student Leadership Academy? About a lawn care program serving 900 homes?

One by one, the Joan’s House representatives presented troves of documents — a plastic storage bin’s worth in one instance — that they said supported their claims.

Burroughs called on his aides to submit the evidence to the clerk so it could be uploaded for public inspection.

Tuesday’s meeting excluded mention of Romel Williams, who founded Joan’s House and was its president as recently as this spring.

Williams told The Banner on Monday that he had resigned from the organization, but he declined to say when.

He said he was “very proud” of the work that he and others at the organization had done.

Boston, Joan’s House’s interim executive director, couldn’t be reached for comment.

For a time, Williams was working as senior director of special programs at the local workforce development organization Employ Prince George’s. As of Monday, Williams had been removed from the organization’s website.

A spokesperson for Employ Prince George’s could not be reached for comment.

Williams declined to say when he began working at Employ Prince George’s and when, or if, he left the organization.

On Oct. 8, Williams pleaded guilty to driving while under the influence of alcohol and was sentenced to a year in jail, with all but 12 days suspended, and two years of supervised probation.

He was arrested in March after a police officer responded to a home where a Honda Accord he was driving collided with the garage and a vehicle in the driveway, according to court documents. It was his second incident of driving under the influence or driving while intoxicated in three years.

Williams declined to comment on the matter.