The former head of a San Francisco homelessness services nonprofit, who has been accused of misappropriating more than $1.2 million in public funds, was charged Monday with nine felonies.
Gwendolyn Westbrook, 71, former CEO of the United Council of Human Services, faces charges that include misappropriation of public funds, grand theft, and filing four years of false tax returns.
Westbrook was booked into county jail Friday, according to the Sheriff’s Department, but is no longer listed in custody. She is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. at the Hall of Justice.
Prosecutors allege that between 2019 and 2023, Westbrook misappropriated more than $1.2 million from UCHS accounts through unauthorized self-payments, improper cash withdrawals, and fraudulent reimbursement practices that diverted public funds for personal use. She is also accused of directly stealing $91,000 from the organization. Court documents allege that additional large sums withdrawn from UCHS accounts remain unaccounted for.
The charges stem from an ongoing investigation by the district attorney’s Public Integrity Task Force.
Westbrook’s arrest caps years of scrutiny of UCHS. The Bayview Hunters Point organization, which previously operated under the name Mother Brown’s Kitchen, provides meals and shelter to tens of thousands of low-income and homeless residents. A LinkedIn profile for Westbrook says she began working at the organization in 2003.
A 2022 audit by the city controller’s office revealed widespread issues at UCHS, including improper placement of tenants in supportive housing, failure to accurately calculate rents, and circumvention of required hiring processes. At the time of the audit, the nonprofit had received nearly $28 million in city funding to house and support formerly homeless individuals.
Following that report, Ben Rosenfield, the controller at the time, and City Attorney David Chiu sent a letter to the FBI and DA’s office requesting a criminal investigation into the organization.
“Gwendolyn Westbrook enriched herself and misappropriated millions of dollars in public funding meant to benefit the community,” Chiu said in a statement. “We are grateful the district attorney accepted our referral, and the White Collar Crime Division conducted a thorough investigation leading to these charges.”
The day after the controller’s audit was released, Westbrook admitted in an interview with The Standard that she had given coveted shelter space to roughly 20 family members, friends, and employees. The state attorney general’s office suspended the organization’s charity status, making it ineligible to receive public funds.
In February 2023, former UCHS employee Noel Robinson filed a lawsuit against Westbrook, accusing the CEO of misusing funds and “living a lifestyle inconsistent with her reported salary,” which in 2015 was $155,000 a year.
In April 2023, the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing confirmed it would bar UCHS from nearly $10 million in future city contracts. Those contracts were redirected to the Felton Institute, a nonprofit specializing in mental health and social services.
City auditors had raised concerns about UCHS’s financial operations under Westbrook as far back as 2017, when a previous controller made 28 recommendations for improvements to internal policies and financial oversight. The city had revoked contracts for the organization in 2009 after finding issues with the organization’s bookkeeping.
In July 2023, a man found dead in an RV just outside a city temporary trailer park for unhoused people was identified as Darrin Douglas, Westbrook’s nephew. Robinson’s lawsuit claimed that Douglas was jeopardizing the safety of other residents and staff at the property, but Westbrook intervened on her nephew’s behalf.