The time has come for an outsider to respond to all the wild and less than truthful statements that Ms. Shelton has be posting, twittering and just plain flooding the internet with.
First, let me say that the Army of Angels Conference Committee along with all the Angels have done and continue to do great work helping other survivors. They are a selfless and hard working group of women who honestly want to help less fortunate survivors work their way to healthy, happy lives.
It is unfortunate that the Army of Angels has been led down a path of pain by Ms. Shelton and her lying. Ms. Shelton has used these good women, survivors, to expand her name recognition and misuse the funds they raised for their conference.
I should clarify at this time that the Army of Angels is a group of women that came together to help other survivors of sexual assault and child sexual assault. This group is independent and not OWNED by Ms. Shelton or the Angela Shelton Foundation. Ms. Shelton has on a couple of occasions stated that the Army of Angels are part of her company, a company which no longer exists. On other occasions she has stated that it is a "Project" of the foundation. All of this is very interesting since no where is there any documentation or evidence to support Ms. Shelton's claim's.
I have personally done extensive research into Ms. Shelton and her Foundation. Ms. Shelton stated in her blog, The Army of Angels & Angela Shelton Foundation Conference dated July 20, 2010, that "
Volunteers have no authority to cancel the Army of Angels or the Angela Shelton Foundation conference, to vote or to demand how anything is created or run." Ms. Shelton it is you that have no authority over the Army of Angels and what they do because they DO NOT belong to you; they are independent.
More to the point, Ms. Shelton you have not done one thing to organize, plan or decide anything about the conference. All the work was done by these "Volunteers" who made trips to decide on a location, actually worked the deal and signed the contracts, established the conference pay site, and raised the money for the conference. The same money that you were asked numerous times, verbally and in writing, to produce but never did. The fact is, that if it wasn't for them, there would not even be a conference.
The Army of Angels is in fact just a group of women trying to do the right thing. Unfortunately, Ms. Shelton thinks she is the "Goddess" of survivors and that all should bow to her. No one is beholden to you Ms. Shelton. You have hurt and lost the trust of many of the women who loved you. You have made many of them regress because they now, once again, do not know who to trust. You put on a good front but in reality you are out for yourself and could care less about any one else.
Let's now look at the money raised by the Army of Angels, you know the "Volunteers." That money was to be used solely for the conference and, once the conference was done, any remaining monies were going to be donated to the Angela Shelton Foundation. You had no right to use any of that money to "Pay bills." That money was not raised for you or for the foundation, it was raised for the conference. But you are used to doing what you please. In fact, this wasn't the first time that you dipped your hands into the conference funds was it? I understand you did so last year also but were caught early enough that you could not get your hands on all of it. I guess you learned from last years mistake and this year you had access to all of it.
You were asked numerous times orally and in writing where all the money for the conference was. You responded that you had to "Pay bills." You even responded in writing that you were going to have to come up with the money, about $5000.00. Just know Ms. Shelton that the documents substantiating all of this exist.
Now let us look at the Angela Shelton Foundation. Ms. Shelton stated in her blog "The foundation did have missing paperwork," Ms. Shelton even indicated that she and the IRS had a good laugh about it. Well, Ms. Shelton, the California Franchise Tax Board shows that the Angela Shelton Foundation has not filed their tax forms for 2006, 2007 or 2008 and 2009 is now due. In fact it shows that the last filing by the foundation was in January 2006 for 2005. We can go a little further and point out that according to the California Attorney Generals Office, the foundation has been under suspension since January 2008. Suspension means that the foundation CAN NOT do business until it is reinstated.
Ms. Shelton will you be filing taxes this year? Do not forget to include the $37,000 that Frank Kern donated to the foundation. Or the money you misappropriated from the independent group, The Army of Angels, the dance party in Malibu and the twitter campaign donations. Or all the other monies you and the foundation have received this year.
Now Ms. Shelton would have you believe that she has been the victim of a small group out to get her. This is caused by her paranoid nature because she knows she has done wrong. Ms. Shelton has brought this all on herself by taking advantage of and using the very people that she was professing to be helping.
Ms. Shelton also stated in her blog that "There are many friends in the field who run huge non-profits who are in the core AOA who are on board to sponsor if there are any issues with donations while paperwork is processed." Ms. Shelton can you name any of these people because they do not show up in the roles and rosters of the Army of Angels.
Now to further the issue with the foundation, it is supposedly a non-profit organization. As such, they are required to make public an annual report indicating how much money the foundation has raised and how they distributed it. I have visited numerous web pages by legitimate non-profits and have found their annual reports right on their web page. For instance the Red Cross has their's posted at http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.d8aaecf214c576bf971e4cfe43181aa0/?vgnextoid=0bf26a5e61dce110VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default , The African Wildlife Foundation at http://www.awf.org/section/about/resources/financials , Doctors without Borders at
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/publications/ar/?ref=main-menu, and many, many others.
There have been several requests made for the Angela Shelton Foundations financial records but none have been provided. According to California Law "The corporation makes available for public inspection a copy of its federal tax exemption application, IRS tax exemption determination letter, and IRS Form 990 for the previous three years, and provides a copy on request." Why isn't the Angela Shelton Foundation following the law. Maybe it's because they do not have any records. Gee now the foundation does not even list any Board of Directors. Wonder what happened to them?
In any event Angela Shelton and The Angela Shelton Foundation, I believe, started with great intentions. Unfortunately, some where along the way both lost their way and are now attempting to save face by besmirching the good women who worked so hard for the Army of Angels!
All I can say is that it is all pretty sad, and horribly disgusting what Angela Shelton has done and is doing...or rather not doing.
ReplyDeleteWe wanted to HELP woman, seems like we helped ONE woman...AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY.
Selfish, self centered Biatch!
I respectfully and sincerely ask you to consider the bigger picture.
ReplyDeleteClearly you personally put a lot of work into an event without sufficient support and recognition from Angela - That's obvious from your note.
It's also very clear that she lacked the skills and experience to properly manage a Foundation. Unfortunately this is far too often the case.
You can take issue with the fact that she doesn't know a spreadsheet from a wax crayon but please consider the greater damage you're undeniably causing with such a public crucifixion.
It's a fact that Angela's movie and her public speaking have made huge differences in the lives of tens of thousands of survivors (myself included). That work has quite possibly saved hundreds of lives.
I'm not writing this to defend her foundation or her business strategies; I'm writing this to try and make you see that in attempting to ruin her reputation so publicly you are also ruining the viability and power of those other very powerful things.
It sounds like a bad debate tactic, but in this case it's genuinely true, your public attack on Angela is directly affecting the lives of survivors in a very negative way.
Because of this post, fewer people will now see a powerful movie that can give them a sense of hope, community and empowerment. Because of this post, fewer people will now have the experience of hearing Angela tell her story and inspire them to do the same.
Damage has already been done - I implore you to remember what's important and take this fight offline before more people are affected than you ever intended.
Respectfully.
-An Independent Mind
See comment replies at Karin Hiebert's Blog.
ReplyDeleteThere is no smearing by the Angels who planned the conference. I would say it's the other way around thank you, and I'm silent no more.
ReplyDeleteThere are facts, and if all the previous angels had told us what we are now telling others, perhaps I wouldn't have been poleaxed. (not blaming those ladies, I get it) There were numerous warning signs that I myself ignored for the "glory of helping people" as far back to 2007.
Warning signs that one of the angels brought to our attention time after time and we all explained way because we wanted to help.
Surely, there's a plausible explanation. Surely there's a reason. Heck, I even feel guilty (almost worked through it now, thank goodness -- stupid survivor issue) that I brought up one thing that opened the gates.
Here are some non smearing facts from someone who was there.
Fact: Continually assured $$ safe in the foundation and we didn't need our own account.
Fact: 2nd (2nd is fact, but I think there was a third) time $$ issues came up.
Fact: donations solicited on youtube/facebook begging for $5,000 to bring special survivors to the conference. Sucker here donated $100 and then thought wait what about the fundraising money we're been doing for a year?
Fact: when questioned, assured $$ was there. If $$ there, was youtube/facebook a lie? a fudge? Begs the question. Oh and by the way, I don't do fudging.
Fact: I saw for my own eyes that status was suspended and we were fundraising. That's not right. It's just not, and you can't laugh it away. Not for me.
Now, does this negate the help given to survivors through the movie and manual and all the hard work? NO! We all needed someone to help those of us gagged learn how to speak up. I for one was helped, and am continually grateful.
Do we not say anything and let the issues with $$ and fundraising and donations and doing the right thing continue. hmm NO! It's an ethical issue.
And guess what? I am no longer silent about anything, so the phrase (slightly adjusted) is hoisted by your own petard. Do not expect me to be silent when you want and speak out when you want. Sound familiar?
To those who are wondering, view the documentary, read the survivor manual, use your own brain and honor your intuition and those feelings inside you hear when things aren't quite right. Keep brandishing your sword. If we don't, no one else will.
What someone posted above reminds me of when you see the perp's (and i'm NOT likening anyone to a perp..i said "it's like') supporter's fight back and say but they did all this good work, look at their wondrous works. Umm yeah, and look at the child in a ball in the corner. The Pharises (spelling?) were often quoted as saying (paraphrasing here) look at our good works, aren't we wonderful and powerful.
And by the way, a simple honest acknowledgement and some transparency for valid questions was all that was needed.
Speak the truth, own your voice, never be silent again.
Thank you "Once an Angel" for what you wrote. I agree with everything you have said. Especially, "Speak the truth, own your voice, never be silent again". We still have not received the Annual Report, to date (surprise!) I will also have you know that I have received numerous wonderful, supportive e-mails from individuals/survivors regarding this issue. Many of whom have dealt with this same issue in the past. I, too, wish they had come forward earlier, but I totally understand why they did not. I am just as guilty for giving Ms. Shelton a second chance (last year) regarding the bank account; however, in my heart of hearts I wanted to trust her again. Reminds me of the saying I have heard, "First time is a mistake, Second time is Stupid." (re: chances) Well, obviously, there will be no third time for us. Power, Control & Manipulation is used by many; please do not let this situation discourage anyone from helping those in need. Just be sure they really are!
ReplyDelete