Group home operator shut down for ‘gross incompetence’ to sell Chestnut Hill property for $4 million
The proceeds of the sale will be placed in escrow while Pa. officials ensure that restricted charitable funds at Blossom are accounted for.
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Blossom Philadelphia, a defunct nonprofit provider of services to intellectual disabled adults and children, has agreed to sell its 4.4-acre Chestnut Hill headquarters property for $4 million to the Goldenberg Group as it winds down operations.
Under an agreement with the arm of the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office that oversees charitable organizations, the proceeds of the sale, anticipated next month, will be placed in escrow while officials ensure that restricted charitable funds at Blossom are accounted for.
Pennsylvania regulators revoked Blossom’s residential license in October 2017 after finding “gross incompetence” in Blossom’s management of 32 group homes with 89 residents at the time. At the end of that year, the state transferred care of Blossom’s clients to new operators.
During the transition in late 2017, a resident at one of Blossom’s group homes died after being given a slice of pizza the day before even though he was on a doctor-ordered diet of pureed food only.
Blossom, which ceased all operations at the end of last year, had previously sold the group homes to the new service providers for about $5 million, according to public records. It’s not clear how much of that money had to be used to pay debts.
At the Chestnut Hill property, Blossom operated day programs for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, in addition to its administrative offices.
Orphans’ Court Judge Matthew D. Carrafiello, who on March 19 issued an order approving the sale, also ordered Blossom to account for all restricted charitable funds in the period from Jan. 1, 2017, through March 31 by May 1.
Blossom’s tax return for the year ended June 30, 2017, showed that the organization had $6.9 million in endowment funds.
The Goldenberg Group, a real estate development group based in Blue Bell, declined to comment on its plans for the property at 100-102 E. Mermaid Lane. Zoning restricts the property to single houses and twins.