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Dear Valued Partner,
As President of Hi-Tech Charities, I am so proud of our work to empower individuals, families, businesses, and communities through quality healthcare, education, and economic and community development. Hi-Tech Charities has been operating in St. Louis for more than 23 years, and our top priority has been and always will be the people and communities we serve. Unfortunately, you may have seen some incredibly disappointing, inaccurate, and biased reporting on Hi-Tech Charities recently in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. You should hear directly from me about the reality of the work Hi-Tech Charities is engaged in and share some exciting new programming we can offer the communities we serve. We recently held a grand opening in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood for our St. Louis facility. It will expand our capabilities and enable Hi-Tech Charities to serve better one of St. Louis’ most economically depressed neighborhoods. Hundreds of community members attended the grand opening of the St. Louis facility on February 9. The event featured: · A health fair with nurses, social workers, and professional counselors, where over a hundred community members received primary health care and behavioral health screenings, including for substance use disorders. · Several local employers also attended as part of a job fair for residents. · We unveiled our new 12-seater Ram van and integrated mobile health clinic. These vehicles will help us transport community members to medical appointments and bring healthcare services directly to underserved communities. · And two local healthy food trucks served meals to attendees. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch focused on none of these exciting new developments but ona false narrative about our organization and work. The Post-Dispatch's reporting and editorial included verifiably incorrect information, made misleading claims,and ignored vital context. The paper needed to conduct basic due diligence. For example, they claimed our license in New York State was not findable on the state’s database. However, our license is findable with a simple online search. The reporter also demanded internal program metrics about a project funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We are currently in the review period for the grant work, and those metrics still need to be completed. Like every organization that received grants for similar projects, those results will be given to HHS in June. The Post-Dispatch ignored this essential context to make it appear we were hiding information we do not yet have. While I had hoped to highlight the new and vital work we are doing to make our communities safer and healthier places, sadly, I felt it necessary to make you aware of this false and pointless distraction.
If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Thank you for your continued support and partnership.
Sincerely, Dr. Francis O. Onukwue, President & CEO
March 2, 2023