Head of Texas Veterans’ Charity Draws Scrutiny over Ethics

A Houston socialite whose nonprofit provides homes for wounded service members and their families has drawn fire from some of the organization’s board members and beneficiaries over an overlap between her charity work and a commercial beauty-products firm, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Meredith Stewart Iler’s Helping a Hero organization has provided 65 specially adapted houses to injured veterans in the last seven years. Some housing recipients say Ms. Iler has pressured them to work on her sales team for Arbonne International, which sells chemical-free cosmetics and health-care products, and has sought stipulations in their mortgage contracts that they will promote Helping A Hero or risk losing their homes.

Some board members have resigned over what they termed ethics issues raised by Ms. Iler’s ties to Arbonne and the charity’s lack of financial transparency. Ms. Iler, a prominent local fundraiser descended from the family of multimillionaire property entrepreneurs, said she has encouraged veterans to sell Arbonne products to boost their incomes but denied putting pressure on home recipients.