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The Phoenix Center — a nonprofit organization
that provides testing, counseling, and housing for people with HIV and AIDS
— is closing its Marketplace resale boutique after less than two
years. All merchandise will be disposed of Saturday in a rummage sale
beginning at 8 a.m., followed by an auction beginning at noon. The store is located at 3425 Old Chatham Rd., where
the Pan Handler used to be. The consignment shop was established by Jack Bishop,
the former executive director of the Phoenix Center. Bishop resigned about
a year ago after the board of directors raised questions about his
management of the non-profit’s finances [see Dusty Rhodes,
“Phoenix rising” July 13, 2006]. The Marketplace turned out to
be one of the problems the board found. “The revenue was down so far at the store that
it was costing us money to maintain the store,” says Phoenix Center
board president John Kerstein. “The fact that the rent was actually
twice what he told us it was didn’t help.”
The board has filed police reports and affidavits
alleging that Bishop forged signatures on $80,000 worth of checks, and
charged $13,000 on a fraudulently-obtained credit card. Kerstein remains
hopeful that the Sangamon County State’s Attorney will eventually
file charges against Bishop. “We’re puzzled that nothing is happening.
It boggles our brains,” he says. Bishop, meanwhile, has filed a civil suit charging
each Phoenix board member with defamation for comments they made to Illinois Times.
Contact Dusty Rhodes at drhodes@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Apr 19-25, 2007.
