COVID relief funds given to Casa Ruby, a D.C. based LGBTQ+ housing organization for trans people and people of color, were stolen by its founder, transgender woman and LGBTQ+ activist Ruby Corado.
In federal court, she pleaded guilty to fraudulently wiring $150,000 meant for the organization to her personal bank account in El Salvador. LGBTQ Nation reports that, “Despite receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants as well as donations, the organization was the subject of a Landlord Tenant Court filing because the owner of Casa Ruby’s headquarters said that the nonprofit owes over $1 million in unpaid rent and other fees. Similarly, Union Temple Baptist Church, an organization that leased four townhouses to Casa Ruby, claimed that they were owed $67,867 in unpaid rent.”
Many of Casa Ruby’s employees report that they worked unpaid for months. Many staff members and queer asylum seekers from abroad had to scramble to find alternative housing following the abrupt eviction notices. As other branches of the organization slowly shut down, many of the people receiving aid returned to the streets, leading to some people facing relapse.
“We took in vulnerable individuals 24 hours a day when nobody wanted them,” Casa Ruby employee Kisha Allure tells The Washington Post. “We had programs for people to literally build their lives back up. We had trans women who were D.C. natives, trans women of color, and we kept them in a safe space as the mission told us to do. The full respite care center for trans people of color—built by us, ran by us—is now gone in smoke.”
Corado’s mismanagement of finances came to light in September 2021, and in October 2022 she resigned from her position on the board of directors. She then promptly sold her home in Prince George’s County and fled to El Salvador. The FBI was able to arrest her when she unexpectedly returned to Maryland in 2024.
Transgender people, people of color, and other minority communities are at higher risk of experiencing homelessness, addiction, and mistreatment. Casa Ruby’s mission was to bring aid and stability to D.C.’s most vulnerable people. Corado’s actions were a betrayal of the trust and dependence her employees and clients put on her and her organization.
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