Homeless Veterans were NOT kicked out
of New York hotels to house migrants
20 May 2023
Associated Press | By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN
NEW YORK (AP) — The founder of a nonprofit group has been accused of fabricating a story about homeless military veterans being evicted from a New York hotel to make room for migrants, a tale that stoked days of outrage on cable news
networks.
One Republican lawmaker in New York who helped spread the story is now calling for an investigation, saying he and others were duped.
The uproar began after New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, bused a small group of asylum seekers to a suburban hotel as the city’s homeless shelter system struggled to accommodate an influx of migrants from the U.S. border with Mexico.
The group’s transfer prompted a political backlash from Republican county officials, who accused the mayor of trying to offload his problems on unprepared communities.
Then, the founder of a small charity in the area added an explosive claim: To make way for the migrants, a hotel in Newburgh, New York, evicted nearly two dozen homeless veterans.
That story, told by Yerik Israel Toney Foundation chief executive Sharon Toney-Finch, was picked up May 12 by The New York Post and quickly followed by Fox News, Newsmax and other conservative news outlets. The Post on Friday published a follow-up story reporting on the latest development.
“Our veterans have been placed in another hotel due to what’s going on with the immigrants,’’ Toney-Finch told the Post in its initial story, saying her group had made arrangements to find alternative lodging. “We didn’t waste any time.”
State Assemblyman Brian Maher, a Republican, introduced legislation that would prohibit the displacement of homeless veterans. In an appearance on Fox News, he called the purported evictions an “absolute embarrassment on all fronts.”
Cracks in the story emerged after an investigation by a local newspaper, the Mid Hudson News.
The managers of the hotel told the paper the story wasn’t true. A receipt purporting to show that the Crossroads Hotel had been paid $37,800 to house the veterans appeared to have been sloppily doctored.
In a follow-up report Friday, the Mid-Hudson News reported that several men staying at a homeless shelter in Poughkeepsie, New York, had come forward to say they were recruited to pretend they were among the veterans kicked out of the hotel. The paper quoted some of the men as saying they were offered $200, food and alcohol to take part in the ruse.
They said they met with Toney-Finch, then participated in a meeting at a veterans center in Orange County with local chamber of commerce officials.
Toney-Finch denied giving any money to the men.
In a brief interview with The Associated Press, she declined to say directly that her story was not true, but she suggested that a misunderstanding might have led to confusion.
“We should have verified better,” she said. She abruptly ended the phone call when pressed for details.
Maher said in a written statement that he had a conversation with Toney-Finch on Thursday where he learned that the story about homeless veterans being displaced was false.
“The YIT Foundation purports to protect and support veterans, but the dishonest claims and fabrication of the facts by YIT does enormous harm to our homeless veterans by creating mistrust,” Maher said, referring to the foundation by its shortened name. “I am calling for an immediate investigation by the New York State Attorney General’s office and the Orange County District Attorney into the YIT Foundation based on the new information that came to light today.”
“While I believed Sharon was telling the truth, I do want to apologize for those that have been negatively impacted since this news broke,” he added.
New York City’s mayor also called for an investigation into what he called a “fraudulent claim.”
“Instead of stepping up, we’re seeing hateful language and outright lies,” Adams said in a Twitter post.
On its website, the Yerik Israel Toney Foundation advertises its focus as helping raise awareness of premature births and assisting families with transportation and lodging while their infants are in neonatal intensive care units.
It also says it helps “homeless and low-income military service veterans in need of living assistance.” It is hard to believe that any ethical organization would do these unthinkable acts against Veterans and/or immigrants.
A side note from Veterans Media Group: Veterans Media Group has some questions we hope to find the truth to, and they are as follows:
Is the Yerik Israel Toney Foundation Inc, aka YIT Foundation, an actual 501(c)3 IRS Charitable Organization?
If so, why aren’t they listed with the IRS as such? Nothing can be found.
Why aren’t they listed by the State of New York’s Secretary of State as a business? Nothing can be found… imagine that.
The YIT website states that founder and chairperson, Sharon Tony-Finch is a disabled Veteran, what branch was she in and when did she serve?
Where was she stationed and what was her MOS?
Why is she listed as a disabled Veteran? Is this a lie too?
Is this Stolen Valor? Everything else seems to be fake!
Sharon Tony-Finch needs to be investigated and held accountable for her actions.
Voice of the Veteran challenges Sharon Tiny-Finch to provide factual evidence proving the truth about her foundation (YIT) and show proof of what she claims YIT does to help Veterans. Show actual results because results do not lie like she did!
These are all fair questions that any investigator will ask. Veterans Media Group is confident that Sharon Tony-Finch will be exposed for what she is. Her actions are apprehensible and have done more damage to the real Veterans Organizations that actually do help Veterans and their families. What a clown and a fraud!
The sad thing is that she is not the only fraud out there pretending to help Veterans, there are many. If you are thinking about helping an actual Veterans Organization, please check them out to make sure they are who they say they are, and they do what they say. It’s easy to spot a fraudster, just look at Sharon Tony-Finch and the YIT Foundation for starters.
