Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s new education agency gave nearly $4 million in taxpayer funds to a shady community organization that lost its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status for not filing federal financial transparency forms for years.
The Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP) says it awarded $2 million in out-of-school time grants to Public Owned Property Solutions in 2024-25 and $1.9 million in 2023-24. The press release from Gov. Whitmer and MiLEAP touting these grants even mentioned POP Solutions by name.
But the transparency-averse nonprofit may not have been eligible to receive the funds according to state law, Enjoyer has discovered.
MiLEAP gave POP Solutions out-of-school time (OST) program funds to enrich the lives of K-12 students before and after the school day and during summer break.
POP Solutions director Ashiki Ajamu told Enjoyer that Public Owned Property Solutions is a nonprofit that files financial disclosure statements (Form 990s) with the IRS. But the organization lost its tax-exempt status from the IRS for not filing them.1
Several years ago, Ajamu told a podcast that he has massively benefitted from his business ventures. According to a June 1, 2023, Instagram post from the Unstoppaboles Podcast, Ajamu said he started a business with “zero capital and built it into $1,000,000 income.”
Ajamu told Enjoyer that he was referring to revenue from POP Solutions, not income. But it’s easy to see how that kind of growth is possible when the state is forking the funds over.
He’s also involved with the World Mental Health Organization. When you call the number listed for POP Solutions, it is also the number for WMHO.
Ajamu said POP Solutions and WMHO provide wraparound services and are both funded by government grants and agencies. He said WMHO provides social services on behalf of the state.
Ajamu is listed as director of WMHO in the national provider registry. According to its Guidestar profile, the WMHO “approaches mental health from a whole-person perspective.”
That profile says WMHO has a full staff of doctors, nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, nutritionists, and holistic practitioners.
If there is a full staff, why is Simone Garland listed as the only employee on the WMHO’s sole public tax document from 2023? Why does that 990 form say Garland received no compensation for her reported 40 hours a week?
Nonprofits usually pay their employees, right? Ajamu said Garland had seen clients for free while the organization was growing and that the group probably sees fewer than 10 patients a week.
Ajamu said POP Solutions and WMHO send clients back and forth, like if a student has an individualized education plan. Garland said the two were distinct entities.
Ajamu also said WMHO receives client referrals from insurance companies.
And there seems to be some question as to what name Garland prefers to use: The moniker Symona Monet is listed as the “Cheif [sic] Executive Officer/Owner at POPS/WMHO” according to a LinkedIn profile.
And to bring everything home, the WMHO website lists the following people as its founders: Ashiki Ajamu (Certified Evidence-Based Leader Developmental Psychology), Simone Garland-Ajamu (CEO, Founder), and Dr. Farid Zarif (Head Physician).
When I asked Ajamu about Simone sharing his last name, he said it must be a typo. (They both list the same mailing address for a single-family residence in Dearborn on their various websites, and a longtime family friend called them Mr. Ashiki Ajamu and Ms. Simone Ajamu in a video.)
Despite the “Dr.” in front of his name, WMHO Head Physician Zarif does not appear to have an MD. He instead has a Masters of Public Health and a PhD, according to his Yelp profile, which also says he is based in Los Angeles. His personal website is a Shopify storefront for supplements. While Ajamu maintained that Zarif is a “real physician,” he told Enjoyer: “No, he’s not a mental health physician.”
Zarif told Hip Hop Motivation in 2016 that his specialty is bariatric medicine, “which is obesity and weight loss,” and bariatric nutrition, “which is what we eat.” When asked why he is listed as the head physician for the state-funded organization, Ajamu said that there was a typo.
It was supposed to say the “World Mental And Health Organization,” which is about health and mental health, Ajamu stammered. Zarif has been with the organization from the very beginning, he noted.
I wonder what purported mental health patients think when they find out a gut-focused naturopath from California is the “head physician.”
Public Owned Property Solutions received a grant from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on behalf of World Mental Health Organization as its fiduciary in 2024, according to the Southeast Michigan Perinatal Quality Improvement Coalition, which distributes taxpayer funds.
Ajamu is more than the director of the supposed mental and health organization. He is also the author of a reparations apology book called “Black Booty: Time To Cash Out,” which asks whether black people are entitled to compensation for slavery.
Are the different organizations Ajamu runs a form of reparations? Are taxpayer funds from the state’s grant system a way to benefit himself and those around him?
“We’re doing community work as best as we can,” Ajamu told Enjoyer.
Let’s hope Whitmer’s MiLEAP takes a second to look into all the different kinds of “community work” Ajamu and his associates are up to before reupping their grant for next year.
Brendan Clarey is deputy editor of Michigan Enjoyer.
- State law requires MiLEAP to disburse funds only to tax exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofits or other education and government entities. MiLEAP listed Public Owned Property Solutions as a recipient of taxpayer funds on the 2023-24 and 2024-25 OST grant program.
MiLEAP told Enjoyer that POP Solutions meets the law’s criteria because it was granted 501(c)(3) status in 2021. But the IRS told Enjoyer the organization’s tax-exempt status was revoked for failing to submit the required 990 disclosure form for three years in a row.
The IRS also told Enjoyer that Public Owned Property Solutions applied for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status again in December 2024, but the IRS has not yet made a tax-exemption determination for the organization.
MiLEAP also says it has received a record of services which show that it has provided a range of out-of-school time programming to students and follows financial reporting requirements.
But a similarly named entity called POP Solutions LLC is also registered with the state of Michigan as a domestic limited liability company. Ajamu is listed as its agent. ↩︎
