As the city cracks down on nonprofit funding, one group got $250k outside of the traditional application process

On April 21, a group of students attending Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School and their parents spoke at a city council meeting in support of an after school program they participate in. One student got emotional while speaking to councilors.

“UBU changes people’s lives,” the student said of the group, before breaking down in tears.

The students were met with a round of applause from audience members, which was in violation of council rules but was permitted.

UBU 100, the official name of the program, has received more than half a million dollars from the city over the last two years. Each time, that money was given months after budgets were approved, without ever submitting an application, according to city documents and ordinances. 

Councilwoman Ellen Robertson (6th District), who introduced the organization to the city in 2023, said she’s aware that other council members have raised questions about the organization’s lack of a city-required application to apply for grant funding.

UBU did not apply “because they have a contract with the city that had promised and guaranteed them continued contract[ing],” she said at the meeting. 

A few days earlier, Robertson made an amendment to the budget proposing $350,000 for the organization, according to the council’s budget spreadsheet. The council ultimately agreed to earmark the organization $250,000 by reducing the budget for the city's Neighborhood and Community Services department. 

UBU 100, is part of a nonprofit organization called Rings vs. Rent Scholarship Foundation (RVRSF). The group bypassed the city’s process of applying for grant funding during this year’s budget process at a time when the city has already cut or gutted other nonprofit organizations’ grants. 

“You guys have supported UBU 100 for the last two years – it’s an investment that has paid off,” Michael Bailey, CEO of UBU 100, said to council members at the April 21 meeting.

Mayor Danny Avula said the city will change its approach to nonprofit grants next year, after a scathing report from the city auditor, but RVRSF appears to be circumventing that process entirely by requesting money later in the process, without filling out a formal application.

A city spokesperson said that the mayor did not include funding for UBU 100 or the Rings vs. Rent Scholarship Foundation in his proposed budget for fiscal year 2026.

“Council’s current proposed budget earmarks a $250,000 reserve for life skills programming and does not name a specific organization,” the spokesperson said. “The City supports this programming and is looking forward to working with the City Council on finalizing a service provider."

The council’s discussion centered around providing support directly to UBU 100.

There are also questions about the group’s tax reporting.

RVRSF has filed a tax form 990-N every year since 2015. That form, in lieu of a traditional 990 for nonprofits, is for groups whose annual gross receipts are $50,000 or less. The group’s chief of staff, Queen Bailey, did not respond to questions regarding their 990-N forms. 

What is UBU 100?

Queen Bailey, Michael Bailey’s wife, told The Richmonder in an email that UBU 100 is a program that is part of My Life Coach Academy, another program the organization offers that provides in-school engagement to students from preschool through the 12th grade. She said UBU 100, which has a partnership with RPS, is a “home, school and community based engagement program that provides educational based instruction in building positive relationship practices.”  

“Based on the data that is currently available, this program has changed the lives of not only the students of this low-income community but also the families that are engaged in the annual scheduling of activities and events,” she wrote.

The Richmonder asked for this data last Thursday, and has not heard back.

On its main website, UBU 100 defines itself as a program that caters to educators, teaching teachers how to engage in self-care practices that will help improve relationships and student outcomes. 

The website also has a separate “About us” section that does not have any information about the group itself, but appears to be a template website. 

Additional sources of funding

The organization has also received funding from the state for fiscal year 2024 totalling $250,000, with Sen. Lamont Bagby making the initial amendment. In budget documents, the organization is listed as UBU100/My Life Coach Academy, and there is no mention of RVRSF.

The organization requested funding from the General Assembly in 2023, Bagby told The Richmonder. He visited MLK Middle School and saw the work it was doing. 

“The students' responses [are] what really calls me to want to give them some support,” he told The Richmonder in a phone call. 

He said that it was his first time hearing about the organization’s 990-N forms, and that the city also recommended providing support to the organization. 

“I wasn’t privy to their tax records,” he said. 

The contract Robertson referred to, which has been mentioned in city council meetings dating back to June 2023, was part of a pilot project to see how the city can better support “emerging grassroots youth serving organizations,” despite the city having the Positive Youth Development Fund that began in 2021 and was overseen by NextUp, a nonprofit organization that expands access to out-of-school programs.

In a Friday phone call with The Richmonder, Robertson said she did not have any information to provide regarding questions about the organization. She also said she does not have access to the contract she referred to at the April 21 meeting.

The organization also fundraises through its annual golf tournament which benefits low-income families and students through its My Life Coach Academy and UBU 100 programs. Registration for the annual golf tournament on June 6 starts at $100 and goes up to $1,000. 

The organization received a certificate of recognition last year at its golf tournament from lieutenant governor and gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears. 

RVRSF applied for funding through other avenues in the past. The organization requested $250,000 from the State Department of Criminal Justice Services in 2022 and was not recommended for funding. It requested $100,000 from the same department in 2023 for a Firearm Violence Intervention & Prevention Grant, and DCJS recommended $25,000. Henrico County did not approve funding to the organization in fiscal years 2020 to 2022. 

Contact Reporter Victoria A. Ifatusin at vifatusin@richmonder.org