A $10 million scandal has engulfed Hope Florida, a charity founded by Casey DeSantis, wife of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, that was created to help needy people get help from faith groups and nonprofits rather than the state.
The problem began when Hope Florida’s fundraising arm, the Hope Florida Foundation, allegedly received improperly $10 million from a $67 million Medicaid settlement with the state. Then Hope Florida improperly funneled the funds to a political committee chaired by the governor’s chief of staff, who gave $5 million each to two groups fighting an effort to legalize cannabis in the state.
Gov. DeSantis was an outspoken opponent of legalization. The effort lost narrowly. Hope Florida Foundation had revenue of $850,000 in 2023, the year before it received $10 million from the state.
Florida’s Republican-led Legislature had assigned a committee to look into irregularities in how the funds were received and spent. The Republican head of that committee said the charity had committed money laundering and wire fraud and forwarded its conclusions to the state attorney’s office, which has opened an investigation.
Critics say the $10 million should have gone to needy Floridians, not the first lady’s charity.
Critics say the $10 million should have gone to needy Floridians, not the first lady’s charity. They claim normal state oversight failed, allowing the ill-conceived transfer of funds. Critics also lambasted the charity’s gift of funds to two political operations.
Florida’s former chief financial officer has condemned the transfer of funds and said Gov. DeSantis “thumbs his nose” at oversight of his activities. “The inmates are running the asylum,” Alex Sink told the outlet Florida Trident.
The scandal complicates plans for the governor and his wife. He is term-limited and will leave office when his current term ends in 2026. He has proposed she should run for the job in his stead, using her success at Hope Florida as proof of her abilities to lead the state.
Gov. DeSantis has dismissed the investigation and claims of scandal as “pure politics.” He decried politically motivated attacks on his wife and Hope Florida, her signature initiative, which he said serves as “a model for the nation.”
The program used state-employed “care navigators” to guide people to benefits provided by the private sector, the faith-based community, nonprofits and government.
Foundation leader Joshua Hay testified that the foundation failed to file records required of nonprofits and that it operated without formal bylaws.
“I cannot confirm what the funds were used for,” Hay told the state legislature. “We have no monitoring procedures. We have no staff.”
Erik Dellenback, executive director of Hope Florida, resigned May 1. Last week he began a new job: CEO of Florida Family Voice, a conservative activist nonprofit affiliated with Focus on the Family.
Dellenback was Gov. DeSantis’ liaison for faith and community for the past six years and will continue to advise the governor in his new post. FFV praised Dellenback and Hope Florida. The Christian nonprofit did not reference the scandal at the charity he led.
“Under his leadership, Florida has become the most faith- and community-friendly state in the nation, with more than 2,200 faith institutions and 5,600 nonprofit partners mobilized to serve the most vulnerable,” he said. “Hope Florida, an initiative created by First Lady Casey DeSantis, has redefined the role of government in supporting families and communities.”
Dellenback hosted Florida Family Voice, which featured a talk by Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA to “500 leaders, pastors, partners.”
“We’re not political, we’re biblical,” Dellenback said in his own speech.
Previously, Dellenback led the Tim Tebow Foundation for seven years. He also served as a consultant to For Others, a charity led by Christian musician Chris Tomlin.
In an April 1 press conference, Gov. DeSantis and his wife announced Hope Florida was expanding its services.
Florida’s Senate had considered a law that would have enshrined Hope Florida in state law, but the emerging scandal scuttled that legislation. The charity could lose its tax-exempt status for using its funds for political purposes.