Two years after Sara Bowen-Lasisi began working for the Phoenix Center, she realized the Springfield nonprofit appeared to be overbilling the state for grant-supported HIV testing.

But Bowen-Lasisi said the questionable practice was openly admitted and encouraged by the former executive director, Jonna Cooley.

According to Bowen-Lasisi, Cooley said, “‘We were doing the work, so we deserve the money.’”

Bowen-Lasisi told Illinois Times that Cooley “didn’t think she would be caught. And quite frankly, she never would have been caught.”

Bowen-Lasisi, who was assistant director of Phoenix Center before being fired in fall 2023 amid what she called a hostile work environment, said she was the person who exposed the alleged 10-plus years of grant fraud in complaints to the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Office of the Executive Inspector General for the Agencies of the Illinois Governor. 

Those complaints apparently are what led the state in May 2024 to suspend about $1 million in annual grant funding for the center, which provides social, clinical, residential and harm-reduction services to members of the queer community and other at-risk groups throughout central Illinois. The center operates out of a building at 109 E. Lawrence Ave. and at its Out on Second site at 120 E. Scarritt St.

The new executive director told Illinois Times that the cutoff of funds, which also has spawned an ongoing criminal investigation by the Illinois State Police focusing on Cooley’s conduct, will jeopardize the nonprofit’s existence in the next 12 months if the agency’s financial quandary isn’t resolved. Cooley hasn’t been charged with any crimes related to the recent investigations.

“Things weren’t really adding up”

Duane Williams is the co-owner of Fluid, a bar in downtown Springfield that caters to LGBTQ+ clientele, a hairdresser and former operations coordinator of Phoenix Center. He said state officials told the staff and the center’s board in 2024 that the suspected grant fraud amounted to between $500,000 and $1 million over a 10-year period.

Williams said Cooley told officials at the time that she and the agency shouldn’t be punished because the overbillings were mistakes that the state should have caught and corrected early on.

“She did everything to blame everybody else,” Williams said of Cooley, whom he used to consider a close friend. 

Williams, who volunteered for Phoenix Center before becoming an employee in January 2024, said he lost trust in Cooley. He said he has been interviewed twice by a representative of the inspector general.

Williams was fired in November 2024 for “mishandling and destroying Phoenix Center records in coordination with other Phoenix Center employees without the knowledge or consent of the Phoenix Center Board of Directors,” according to his termination letter.

But Williams said the IG investigator assured him that he wasn’t responsible for the alleged fraud because he was just following orders.

Williams said empty file folders that helped to document the alleged fraud were destroyed at Cooley’s direction before he realized their importance. He and another employee sifted through and organized paper testing records by the state after the fraud investigations began.

Cooley “used me to destroy the evidence,” Williams said. “Once I got behind the walls of the Emerald City, I realized the wizard really wasn’t the wizard, because things weren’t really adding up.”

Karen Reynolds, a research instructor at SIU Medicine, was Phoenix Center’s board president In November 2024 when Williams was fired and when Cooley retired. Reynolds declined comment when contacted by Illinois Times. Reynolds would only say she served on the board for eight years, the last two as president, and left the board in January 2026.

Teresa Silva became interim executive director after Cooley, 64, abruptly retired after 18 years at the helm of an organization that, at its peak, operated with a $1.5 million annual budget and 18 to 20 full-time staff.

Silva has worked for the agency since 2022 and was named permanent executive director by the Phoenix Center board in February 2026.

When asked whether Cooley retired under threat of being fired, Silva didn’t address the question directly but offered this reply: “She’s not dumb, right? And so, I think she made some decisions because some decisions were about to be made for her.”

Cooley, a Springfield resident, was paid $111,440 in 2024, according to Phoenix Center’s most recent IRS 990 report.

Cooley hasn’t been charged with any crimes in connection with the investigations by IDPH, Inspector General and State Police. She didn’t respond to phone messages or a note left on the door of her home, which abuts Lake Springfield, by an Illinois Times reporter on March 31.

Cooley was employed by Illinois College in Jacksonville from January 2025 to March 2026, according to IC spokesperson Bryan Leonard. He wouldn’t say why Cooley left or what she did at the private college. 

Until a few days ago, the college’s website listed Cooley as “Empower Your Life Program Coordinator” in the Chesley Health and Wellness Center. Her LinkedIn profile says she holds a master’s degree in mental health counseling and a doctorate degree in psychology.

The State Journal-Register published an article about the alleged grant fraud March 23. 

A troubled past

Cooley was first hired by the Phoenix Center in 2006 as its funding development director, and later named executive director, while she was under investigation for allegedly misusing funds at the Sangamon County Child Advocacy Center while she was executive director. The Advocacy Center coordinates investigations of child sexual abuse.

John Kerstein, then-fiscal officer of Phoenix Center’s board of directors, defended the hiring of Cooley in 2006. He told The State Journal-Register at the time, “I was under the impression that, here in the U.S., you are innocent until proven guilty. She has had a long career in social services and did tremendous things for the Child Advocacy Center.”

Kerstein, who posted the $1,000 bail to get Cooley out of jail after her arrest in 2008, didn’t respond to an interview request from Illinois Times regarding the ongoing investigations.

Cooley kept her job at Phoenix Center even when she was charged in 2008 with nine felony counts of theft and official misconduct and three felony counts of forgery. According to the SJ-R, “Authorities say she requested reimbursement for trips that never happened and improperly used the agency’s credit card.”

Cooley also kept her job when, as part of a plea deal to settle the case, she pleaded guilty in 2009 to one count of forgery. She was sentenced to 30 months of probation, fined $1,500 and was ordered to pay $8,000 in restitution to the Advocacy Center, a department of Sangamon County government.

“People don’t want to admit they got took”

Bowen-Lasisi said she began working for Phoenix Center in 2019 as director of clinical outreach and administered its harm-reduction services, which were ground-breaking in downstate Illinois and probably saved lives. Instructed by Cooley, the staff requested reimbursement for HIV testing in multiple pay-for-performance grants through the state public health department, Bowen-Lasisi said.

“So essentially for one test, let’s say, I think it was like $150 for the reimbursement,” Bowen-Lasisi said. “So instead of getting $150, she would essentially get $600 if it involved four grants.”

The state’s computer system for submitting reimbursement requests was antiquated and could be easily manipulated by those who wanted to defraud the state, said Bowen-Lasisi, who has been interviewed by state police.

She said she didn’t realize this practice was inappropriate at first. Later, she said she kept doing it because she “believed in the agency” and believed in the agency’s mission, especially its harm-reduction work.

“I’m sad to this day that I’m not doing that, because it was incredible,” Bowen-Lasisi said. Between Phoenix Center’s locations in Springfield and the multi-county rural area, she said the agency was serving 1,000 people each month.

Cooley’s ego loomed large over the staff, Bowen-Lasisi said.

“I don’t think that anybody understands how hostile a work environment we were under,” Bowen-Lasisi said. “Jonna was demeaning, degrading.”

State Police spokesperson Melaney Arnold said in an email that there is an “open and active investigation into allegations of fraud involving the Phoenix Center.”

Arnold added, “IDPH referred the allegations to ISP for investigation. The Inspector General is aware of ISP’s investigation.”

Neil Olson, the Inspector General office’s general counsel, wouldn’t confirm or deny the existence of an investigation. The office can issue administrative penalties and disciplinary actions against state agencies, state employees and nonprofits. 

IDPH spokesperson Charity Greene said in an email that IDPH has entered into an agreement with Phoenix Center to recover the disputed funds that have been identified so far. She said the center owes the state about $600,000.

“IDPH relies on valued partners throughout the state to provide community-based health programming and services to Illinois residents,” Greene said. “Upon discovering discrepancies in billing at the Phoenix Center, IDPH launched an investigation which ultimately stopped payments to the organization. IDPH referred the matter to the Illinois State Police for further investigation.”

Greene added, “IDPH does not tolerate fraudulent actions of grantee organizations. Misusing taxpayer resources – especially funds meant to improve public health among marginalized communities – betrays the mission of the department and its partners. We will work closely with law enforcement as appropriate on next steps.”

Williams, the former operations coordinator, faulted the current leadership of Phoenix Center for not being truthful and open with donors and the rest of the public until recently about the reason for the center’s financial problems. 

“People don’t want to admit they got took,” he said.

Silva said it wasn’t the agency’s intention to mislead anyone. But agency officials don’t want to compromise the investigations, she said, so she declined to comment on how the fraud occurred and the statements of previous employees.

But Silva said the center recently received advice on communications and decided to make more public comments.

“There was always a want to be transparent,” she said. “We want to talk about this. We want to tell everything, but we can’t right now.” She added that there was “maybe some misinformation. I’m not sure.”

Silva said the agency submitted to the state a “corrective action plan” in February 2025 that would allow the state to restart grant funding, but state officials haven’t signed off on the plan.

The plan included putting in place policies and procedures to prevent any recurrence of grant fraud, she said. Phoenix Center would hire an accounting firm as a “fiscal agent” to offer additional oversight, she said.

For now, Silva said, the agency is operating with a $25,000 grant from the Chicago-based Pritzker Foundation for harm reduction, a $100,000 grant from Sangamon County for Narcan distribution, and private donations.   

“We have 10 board members now; eight of them are new,” she said. “We’re relying quite a bit on private donations.”

But Silva said she knows it may be hard for the public to trust the Phoenix Center again.

“I want people to understand that there has been significant change from the board on down,” she said. “We have every intention to keep up the change and to make things more accessible and inclusive for all people, especially people who did not feel included before.”

The aftermath

According to Williams, Phoenix Center’s board questioned him and Cooley on the same day in November 2024 about the agency’s practices for requesting state reimbursements for HIV testing. It was shortly before Williams was put on administrative leave and then fired.

Later that day, Williams said, Cooley showed up at his Springfield home.

According to Williams, she stood on his front porch and screamed, “‘What in the hell did you tell them?’”

Williams said he replied to Cooley, “‘Well, I told them the truth.’”

He said Cooley then told him, “‘I fucking lied to them. I’m fired now.”

Williams said Cooley didn’t say what she lied about. Cooley would end up retiring, not being fired.

Williams criticized the board for a lack of oversight, noting that Cooley remained as executive director for almost a year after board members learned about the state investigations.

Many people in the LGBTQ+ community refuse to accept that Phoenix center’s financial problems were of its own making, Williams said. Some blame him, and those rumors have depressed business at Fluid, he said. 

Williams questioned whether it’s a conflict of interest for Josh Wright, owner of the downtown bar Clique, to serve as Phoenix Center’s current board president while many social activities are held at Clique and financially benefit the bar.

Wright didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Silva said Phoenix Center officials received advice – she wouldn’t say from whom – to avoid hosting events at Fluid because Williams and the bar’s co-owner, Jaime Estell, have been questioned as part of the investigations.

When the investigations are complete, the center would be open to working with Fluid, Silva said.

 The alleged grant fraud involving HIV testing may have been small compared with the agency’s overall funding, but it now threatens the future of the 25-year-old organization. 

This year’s Springfield PrideFest celebration, which is sponsored every year by Phoenix Center, is self-supporting and will take place May 16 downtown as planned, Silva said.

But many other services have seen drastic reductions.

Only two full-time employees and a few part-time staff remain. Harm-reduction services such as free clean needles, Narcan and other supplies to help intravenous drug-users avoid overdoses and medical complications so they can live long enough to consider rehabilitation have been downsized.

Harm reduction only is offered in Springfield now, and no longer in the 13 mostly rural counties that were part of Phoenix Center’s territory, including the counties of Menard, Logan, Christian and Morgan.

Thousands of people aren’t getting help, Silva said. The center used to provide 300,000 to 400,000 free needles and syringes each year before cutbacks began in 2024, she said.

And the number of people receiving housing assistance dropped from 30 to 13, Silva said.

Bowen-Lasisi said she hopes Cooley faces criminal charges.

“She’s done a lot of harm in the LGBTQ+ community, a lot of harm in the communities that we served at the Phoenix Center, whether they be people using drugs or residents. … It’s terrible how she treated people and got away with it. She was so arrogant, and like nothing could ever happen to her, especially from the board. She always referred to them as her board. And there really wasn’t any oversight.”

Bowen-Lasisi said public trust in Phoenix Center has been so damaged by the latest controversy that the organization may need to disband.

“This is a burn-down-and-build-back-from-the-ground-up situation,” she said.

Williams said, “I don’t want our LGBT center to close, but what I do want is to be honest.”

Silva said Phoenix Center has name recognition and a connection with clients and the queer community that should be preserved as reforms continue to be put in place.

“At the end of the day,” she said, “I can go to a funder and say, ‘We’ve got 25 years of experience, and here are all of the amazing things that we’re doing.’ Or I can go to a funder and say, ‘We’re brand new, and we don’t have anything, any data to back us up, because we can’t use the Phoenix Center’s data.’

“Lots of people find value in the Phoenix Center.”

Dean Olsen is a senior staff writer with Illinois Times. He can be reached at dolsen@illinoistimes.com, 217-679-7810 or http://www.x.DeanOlsenIT.

This article appears in April 9-15, 2026.