Enrichmond closure and collapse: Details from financial records, files, board meeting minutes

What remains of Enrichmond. Photo: Ned Oliver/Axios

A city storage locker filled with corporate records is finally shedding light on the mysterious collapse of the Enrichmond Foundation.

What's happening: After the foundation closed abruptly last year, it transferred its records to the city, which in a rare act of transparency has made the entire cache of documents available to the public.

Why it matters: With no one who knows anything talking, the records offer the first real clues about what happened at the foundation, which owned two historic Black cemeteries and served as financial steward of 86 small community groups.

Details: Financial records indicate Enrichmond was strapped for cash as it struggled to manage its relatively new role as owner and steward of Evergreen and East End cemeteries.

Zoom out: By the end, the organization estimated it had amassed $700,000 in debt, per the records.

Context: Enrichmond served as a fiscal sponsor for neighborhood groups that organized community cleanups, raised money for local parks and planted trees.

Of note: The contents of the locker were first reported by WTVR.

What they're saying: No board members have publicly commented since Enrichmond closed, and Sydnor has not responded to requests for comment.

State of play: Attorney General Jason Miyares' office is investigating Enrichmond's dissolution, including by sending staffers to leaf through the storage locker.

The big picture: Brian Palmer, a journalist and longtime volunteer with the group Friends of East End, has long voiced frustration with Enrichmond's stewardship of the cemeteries.

What's next: City officials have set up a fund to reimburse community groups and are in early discussions about pursuing ownership of the cemeteries.

💭 Ned's thought bubble: Picking through the remnants of Enrichmond's office was surreal.

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