New Leader Sets Sights on Rebuilding Hale House

As Lawrence F. Davenport takes the helm of Hale House this month, the former federal appointee and nonprofit financial manager will look to steer the New York charity out of controversy and back toward its mission: caring for needy infants.

Once hailed by its Harlem neighbors and international celebrities for its care of HIV-infected infants and those born to drug-addicted or jailed mothers — the charity’s founder, Clara “Mother” Hale, was dubbed “the Mother Teresa of Harlem” by some residents — Hale House was rocked by scandal last year.

Lorraine E. Hale, Clara Hale’s daughter and the charity’s president, was charged with stealing $1-million from the Hale House Foundation and from donations. Ms. Hale allegedly diverted $250,000 in foundation money to a personal checking account, according to court documents, and funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to a failed off-Broadway play produced by her husband, who also served as Hale House’s spokesman. Ms. Hale and her husband have pleaded not guilty in the case.

A state investigation of the charity’s operations resulted in the firing of Lorraine Hale, the resignation of her husband, and the appointment of an interim board by the New York Attorney General’s Office last year.

Mr. Davenport, 57, who was appointed to federal positions by Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan, and until recently served as deputy chief administrator for the U.S. House of Representatives, faces major challenges as he starts his new job. The charity’s interim board estimated last year that it would cost $1-million to clean up the financial problems Hale House faced. What’s more, the organization’s donations dropped by 90 percent last year.

Aware that the charity needed a leader with integrity and financial smarts, Hale House’s Board of Directors chose Mr. Davenport over a dozen challengers, many of whom have more extensive histories of providing services to children, for the $160,000-per-year post. “Mr. Davenport emerged as one with singular gifts in organization,” says Zachary W. Carter, Hale House’s chairman. “He is a good financial manager who has a lot of experience in building programs from the ground up, and that’s exactly what we need.”

Mr. Davenport says he remains undaunted by the charity’s recent travails. Overcoming the Hale House scandal isn’t his only challenge, however. More than 60 percent of residents in East Harlem, where Hale House is located, live well below the poverty line, according to U.S. Census data. Such social problems helped lead to Hale House’s creation in 1969.

Mr. Davenport believes his wide range of work experience — he has held positions in nonprofit fund-raising and financial offices and as a college dean in addition to his government jobs — will serve him well. He adds that being one of 12 kids in a working-class household isn’t bad preparation for leading a charity either.

“I know how to get the most out of a little,” says Mr. Davenport, who will only have a staff of five as he sets about rebuilding Hale House. In an interview, Mr. Davenport talked about his new job.

How have your experiences prepared you to lead a massive image-rebuilding campaign?

First of all, I don’t believe there’s a massive image thing to correct. Hale House has a tremendous image with what Mother Hale has done. She received recognition in 1985 when President Reagan honored her during his State of the Union address and called her an American hero and an angel.

The residue of good feelings is out there. We can’t let some temporary problems get in the way of more than 30 years of outstanding contributions to the community. The problems they have had, the New York attorney general and others are handling. My job is to develop Hale House for a new generation of families.

Is there anything about this job that intimidates you?

No. But there’s no question that we’re going to need a lot of help to do what we need to do. We need foundations and others to help us. And I hope people realize that the problems are over and that we’ve had our books checked more closely than anyone else in the country. It’s time for foundations and people who say they want to help children to step up to the table.

What’s your plan for getting Hale House back up to speed?

We’re going to meet with many of the major foundations, as well as corporate sponsors. I’m having the staff right now look at contributors and having them call minimally five per day to thank them for their support. A letter really doesn’t do that. We want to make sure we have as much contact with these people as we possibly can.

We’re going to open a learning center. We’ll take 40 preschool children — that’s the goal — and educate them in a separate building we own in Harlem. We’ll try and find Head Start grants to fund it and hire a director. We’ll open hopefully sometime in the fall. We’ll also be looking for ways to train mothers for jobs.

Will you take steps to ensure accountability?

Yes. Former mayor Ed Koch used to drive down the street and ask people how he was doing. In that spirit, we’ll issue formal reports annually and make some information available more often than that, so people know how we’re doing.

Do you have any regrets at leaving public service?

Yeah. I had the opportunity to work in an exciting mission at the House [of Representatives] during trying times, post-9/11. We started defining best practices from private industry and comparing them to the House’s operations, then set our goals to meet or exceed the levels those best practices achieved. We’ll do the same things at Hale House. We’ll compare ourselves to other nonprofits and corporations and find out how we measure up. Then we’ll make changes, if necessary. The goal is to be one of the best-managed organizations in the country.

What do you see as the hardest part of the job?

Doing everything all at once, and with a small staff. People are expecting us to be up and running, but at the same time be building new programs, while at the same time spreading the gospel so we can rebuild our fund-raising base. We have to meet with city, state, and federal officials to get those streams flowing. We have to be everywhere we need to be, and we need to do it right.

Do you see this as the job you are likely to retire from?

God — can anybody predict that? It’s a tremendous opportunity. I have a three-year contract, but I see this as a long-term commitment. If I need to pass the torch on, I hope I have the wisdom to do it. Mother Hale said, when someone asked her about what would happen to Hale House when she died, “When I’m gone, someone else will do it. That’s how we’ve lived all these years.” Well, for now, I’m here to pick it up. And I’m honored to do it.

ABOUT LAWRENCE F. DAVENPORT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF HALE HOUSE

Education: Earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Michigan State University and his doctorate from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Previous employment: Served as deputy chief administrator for the U.S. House of Representatives, where he helped supervise a staff of 600. Previously, he worked as chief financial officer at the Milton Hershey School, in Hershey, Pa., and as vice president for development at the Tuskegee Institute, in Alabama. Mr. Davenport has also held six federal positions as a presidential appointee.

Charitable interests: Serves on the board of the Free the Children Trust, in Barrington, Ill., a charity that encourages companies to provide college scholarships to poor children in Chicago and Washington.

Book he was reading at the time of the interview: Stephen R. Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.