Eureka Gardens' owner employs wife, children

HUD expresses no confidence in his ownership of 2 complexes in Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The man who runs the foundation that owns two of Jacksonville's most troubled housing complexes and takes in millions of dollars in federal housing funds each year employs family members in many of his top positions, the I-TEAM has learned.

Global Ministries Foundation, which owns and operates Eureka Gardens and Washington Heights as subsidized apartment complexes, is under scrutiny by federal housing officials and Jacksonville's mayor. Earlier this month, a U.S. Housing and Urban Development official expressed no confidence in GMF's ability to fix the deplorable conditions at the two complexes and urged him to sell them.

It turns out running low-income housing projects runs in the family. His father-in-law started a similar business in the 1970s. Hamlet has told News4Jax that GMF owns $500 million worth of projects in eight states. HUD and others have also documented problems at his properties in Orlando, Georgia and Tennessee. HUD vacated its contract with GMF for two Tennessee projects last month and is relocating 355 families.

Hamlet's business model makes money. Global Ministries, based in Memphis, Tenn., bought Eureka Gardens in 2012 and receives $3 million a year to run the complex, and $3 million more to run six other properties in Jacksonville.

Hamlet's father-in-law, Pete Sisson, owned TESCO properties, also based near Memphis, serving as city commissioner before his death in 2009. A check of its website shows TESCO owns affordable housing complexes in 11 states.

PepperTree apartments, in Memphis, is plagued with crime problems and was subject of a recent code enforcement sweep, according to local TV station WREG in Memphis. The Memphis Flyer newspaper ran a story eight years ago titled "Pete Sisson's TESCO Property among top violators."

According to Hamlet's marriage license, he married Sisson's daughter, Ginger, in 1982, when they were both 20.

Hamlet's spokeswoman told the I-TEAM he met Ginger while they working for TESCO.

Now Hamlet's family works for him. The GMF website shows Ginger Hamlet is the director of women's outreach. Hamlet's son, Hunter, is listed as director of investment oversight, and son Lucian is director of asset management services. Hamlet's daughter, Natalie Metcalf, is listed as a corporate secretary.

A check of recent Global Ministries tax filings only lists two family salaries: Richard Hamlet at $485,000 and Natalie Hamlet at $36,000.

Last fall, Richard Hamlet said GMF is not a company, but a mission.

"You know my heart is to come and help those who are ... who need to be empowered and those that are the disadvantaged," Hamlet said. "That's my mission. I want to build bridges to help those who are the least and the disadvantaged."

On Thursday, Hamlet gave this statement:

"It is a great privilege to mentor and work with my professional children, as they will have the opportunity to take the leadership mantle and lead GMF into the next generation as a faith based relief and development agency."