Charles Crane/MDN Project BEE in Minot was lit up again on Monday evening as the shelter reopened its winter warming shelter Monday evening. Project BEE closed its doors abruptly on Dec. 20.

The winter warming center of a shuttered Minot homeless shelter has reopened while questions remain regarding its closure and the exit of its former executive director.

Project BEE Board President and Interim Executive Director Tarina Crook appeared for a press conference in Minot Monday, at which she shared some of the background behind the sudden closure of the shelter on Dec. 20.

The warming center opened its doors at 5 p.m. on Monday, providing about 20 people in the community a warm meal and a bunk to sleep in. The warming center is typically only open from October through April, and Crook wasn’t sure at this time when the full array of services offered by Project BEE would return. Crook said they were focused on keeping the warming center open “for as long as funding will allow.”

The funds making the reopening possible were secured by the INSPIRITUS Community Health Foundation’s Twice Blessed Program and consisted of a $25,000 gift with a corresponding $25,000 matching grant, rounded out by an existing $14,000 endowment. The link to make donations to Project BEE through the Twice Blessed Program will remain active beyond the donation drive’s end date.

“That allows us to continue to serve our clients, which are at the root of what we do. We just want to be able to put a roof over people’s heads. To be able to help people and get people out of the streets, especially in the dead of winter, is huge. We couldn’t have done it without INSPIRITUS coming with us and helping us along to support us,” Crook said.

Crook said rumors that Project BEE’s accounts and assets were frozen or inaccessible were not true, and the board had full access to three bank accounts. Crook shared that the board has spent the last two weeks reviewing the accounts and has brought on a third party to provide an analysis of the past three years of financials that will be shared with the Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Crook said the board was cooperating fully and transparently with investigators.

The board has not had any contact with former executive director Liz Larsen since the weekend before the announcement of Project BEE’s closure. Crook said Larsen had resigned from her position on Friday, Dec. 15, but there wasn’t a plan in place for when it was to be effective. Crook last personally spoke to Larsen later that weekend, after the board got a closer look at the shelter’s accounts and made the decision to formally fire her.

“We didn’t have as much of a structure as we now know we could have had when it came to the financials,” Crook said. “We now realize the past executive director did not have the best money management practices.

“We don’t know the full extent of it. But now that we know, we want to fix it. We want to be a good steward of the community’s resources, because that’s what they expect of us, and that’s our responsibility,” she said.

Some of the issues and concerns cited by Crook included a lack of existing fiscal policies for the shelter, which she said was something that should have existed “on day one.” Crook acknowledged that although a board member was required in the shelter’s bylaws to partially administer financial accounts with the executive director, there were additional accounts that the board was not aware of or had access to. The lack of checks of balances was identified by Crook as a key issue, which is set to be cured by changes to be voted on at Project BEE’s next board meeting.

Crook said Larsen’s abrupt exit is partially what accelerated the shelter’s shutdown, as the board and staff lost administrative access to social media accounts and websites, as well as human resource and payroll systems. Crook clarified that a prior statement she had made in an interview saying no embezzlement or fraud was found in the shelter’s finances was premature, as both their internal investigation and the BCI investigation are still ongoing.

“Those are serious allegations, and I will leave that to BCI to make that final determination. But I would definitely say there was money mismanagement that was done on her part. We’re not going to stop looking into these issues. It’s serious. It’s people’s money, time, and resources and efforts that have gone into our organization,” Crook said.

Crook said the board has made the decision to drastically scale back the shelter’s scope and staffing due to its reduced budget and reappraise what their budget “should and could be.” Around two-thirds of the previous staff were cut, and Crook said she is actively working with the shelter’s payroll provider to ensure current and former staff get paid as soon as possible.

The diaper pantry will be staffed starting today, but the emergency family shelter will not be opened at this time, with Crook saying the board would revisit it after the shelter’s situation has stabilized. Crook said Project BEE’s community closet would be slowly phased out, with its stock shared with other area nonprofits to ensure it is put to good use.

“At the root of this issue is solving homelessness. No matter what, the issues and problems and mistakes of one person, the people that we serve should not be penalized for those mistakes. The most important thing to us was getting our doors open again to the clients again. Because in all of this, no matter what, it’s still cold outside,” Crook said. “We do need continued community support. We’re trying to regain trust. This is a time of rebuilding and restoration. It’s sad if the community’s relationship with Project BEE pivots on the mistakes of one person. We are so prayerful that this isn’t the incident that completely puts us in the ground.”

Crook said further updates would be made to the community as the investigation unfolds.