Maryland's two U.S. senators have each requested $1 million in federal funding for Civic Works, a Baltimore nonprofit run by a sitting state lawmaker, even as the organization's finances have drawn repeated scrutiny from independent auditors. Sens. Angela Alsobrooks and Chris Van Hollen want the money to go toward facility upgrades at the nonprofit for the upcoming fiscal year.
Civic Works is led by Dana Stein, a Democratic member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing Baltimore County, who serves as the organization's executive director, according to WBFF. The nonprofit provides career training, food distribution, energy assistance and housing services across the city, and if the funding request is selected, Civic Works would use it to upgrade facilities supporting workforce training, food distribution, older-adult services and community service programs.
The request is hardly Civic Works' first brush with congressional earmarks. Van Hollen's fiscal year 2025 request earmarked $2 million for the nonprofit, while his fiscal year 2024 request listed $1.788 million, the outlet's reporting shows. A federal spending database cited in that reporting shows Civic Works actually received $2.3 million in federal funding in 2025 and $3 million in 2024.
A Decade of Public Money, and a Decade of Audit Flags
Civic Works and its affiliated entities have received about $145 million in combined federal, state and local taxpayer funding over the past decade, per the station's analysis. The nonprofit has received more than $18 million in federal funding since 2009 alone, with more than two-thirds of that total allocated since 2023 — a sharp recent acceleration in the pace of federal support.
That money has flowed even as the nonprofit has faced repeated audit concerns. Earlier audits dating to 2017 flagged issues involving grant compliance, financial reporting and internal controls, and federally required independent audits documented recurring financial-reporting problems in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Those same audits determined Civic Works was not a low-risk auditee in any of those three years.
The organization's most recent audit, covering the fiscal year ending in September 2025, identified a repeat significant deficiency in financial reporting, according to the same reporting. A nonprofit filing reviewed through ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer similarly shows that the fiscal year 2025 independent audit identified a significant deficiency in internal controls, while the prior year's audit had identified both a significant deficiency and a material weakness. A Civic Works spokeswoman said independent audits determined the nonprofit was in compliance with requirements tied to its federal funding.
State Energy Fund Has Also Bankrolled the Nonprofit
Federal dollars aren't the only public money flowing to Civic Works. The nonprofit received $18.8 million through Maryland's Strategic Energy Investment Fund between 2009 and 2025, including roughly $4.5 million in 2024 and another $3.2 million in 2025, the station's reporting found. Stein's salary at Civic Works has climbed alongside that funding, rising about 140% over the past decade — from $96,000 in 2014 to about $231,000 in 2024, based on IRS filings cited in the reporting.
David Williams, president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, argued the broader pattern shows a structural problem with how lawmakers direct federal money. Williams said lawmakers can turn their connections into money and that the earmark process is not fair and open, according to the same reporting. He said lawmakers should stop funding Civic Works altogether.
A Separate Case Shows Senators Pulling Back Elsewhere
Alsobrooks and Van Hollen have not always stuck with their funding requests once nonprofits came under outside scrutiny. The senators had sought a combined $4 million in federal funding for two other Baltimore nonprofits, KEYS Empowers and the North East Housing Initiative, with both senators supporting a $3 million request for KEYS Empowers and Van Hollen separately requesting $1 million for the North East Housing Initiative.
The senators withdrew those requests after news investigations examined the nonprofits' financial practices and oversight, per the outlet's reporting. The FBI had raided KEYS Empowers' office this month, and the Maryland Office of the Inspector General Health found the organization needed to return more than $400,000 to the state due to overfunding, record discrepancies and inadequate documentation. The North East Housing Initiative, meanwhile, is facing a federal investigation involving an anonymous $2 million cryptocurrency donation and faces federal tax liens and lawsuits over millions of dollars in alleged debts; that nonprofit's CEO and president, Garrick Good, resigned this month.
No Final Decision Yet on Civic Works
Unlike those withdrawn requests, the Civic Works funding has not been pulled. Alsobrooks and Van Hollen included a Civic Works project in recommendations sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee, but Civic Works has not been awarded Congressionally Directed Spending for fiscal year 2027, and no final decision has been made on the project's selection.
Van Hollen's office said funding requests are based on feedback from community members and state and local partners, and a spokesperson for his office said the project request was submitted but has not been funded. A spokesperson for Alsobrooks said the senator's office is aware of recent audits and has taken immediate action to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly, adding that the office acted in response to audit concerns.
