UPDATED 6:51 P.M.
PEORIA, Ill. – A group described as former employees, members of a Peoria church, and other community leaders asked two top officials with an organization originally started by the church to resign.
According to a news release, the group — including members of Mount Zion Baptist Church, is making the request of METEC. They want Executive Director Julie Hudelson-Schmidgall and board president Leslie Vallar to leave during a meeting Monday night.
Julie Hudelson-Schmidgall (Source: METEC.org)
The group accuses Hudelson-Schmidgall of embezzling the organization’s funds, putting her husband and children on the payroll, paying her husband’s consulting firm which was started after the organization received a grant, paying staff with Walmart gift cards, and misusing the firm’s credit card.
Vallar allegedly didn’t following meeting notice bylaws, and didn’t monitor policies and performance relating to the Executive Director, but did enabling Hudelson-Schmidgall’s behavior.
Peoria Police spokeswoman Semone Roth says the department is aware of the allegations and is investigating. No charges have been filed so far.
“METEC and the members of its Board of Directors are proud of its service to the Peoria Community,” said Vallar, in a statement to 25 News. “We, with you, are also just hearing these accusations being very publicly made by Ms. Boswell, who is not a board member or officer of our organization. It would be inappropriate for our organization to comment publicly on matters concerning an employee, and while we do not anticipate a finding of wrongdoing by anyone involved, METEC is investigating and will take appropriate actions, as necessary.”
Attempts to contact Hudelson-Schmidgall have so far been unsuccessful.
METEC, according to its website, helps families from across seven counties “find or keep a home, learn a new skill, improve their credit score, file their taxes, access legal support, and more.”
METEC originally stood for “Mt. Zion’s Effort to Equip the Community.”
(This story has been edited to clarify who it was that wants the two accused to resign.)
