Why the executive director of a Peoria nonprofit is suing its founder
METEC Resource Center is embroiled in a controversy that has the Peoria nonprofit's founder and current director fighting each other in court.
Julie Hudelson-Schmidgall, the executive director of METEC, and her husband, Chad Schmidgall, have filed for a restraining order against METEC's founder and former executive director Cheryll Boswell, according to court documents reviewed by the Journal Star.
Schmidgall and her husband claim that Boswell has made defamatory statements about them on social media, in the news media and during board meetings for METEC. The Schmidgalls argue the statements are not only false but amount to harassment.
Boswell deferred questions about the case, which was opened in May 2023, to her lawyer. Boswell's attorney, Rob Hanauer, did not return multiple Journal Star phone calls.
Background on METEC
Boswell founded METEC in 2001 in conjunction with Mt. Zion Baptist church and her brother Alphonso Lyons Jr., who died in 2021. Boswell was the executive director of METEC until her retirement in 2016.
The organization, located at 2605 W. Krause Avenue, was founded to help people in South Peoria secure home loans and help them learn about paying a mortgage and avoiding foreclosures. METEC was particularly important in helping people manage the 2008 housing crisis.
In 2016, Hudelson-Schmidgall took over METEC, which stands for Mt. Zion's Effort To Equip the Community.
When Hudelson-Schmidgall took over for Boswell in 2016, Boswell told the Journal Star "Julie is young, intelligent and energetic. While METEC is still helping people with housing and employment, I see a focus on development, as well."
It appears that relationship has soured over the years.
Allegations in court documents
The Schmidgalls claim that Boswell has attempted to "intimidate, threaten and verbally accost" them by showing up to METEC board meetings with "a large crowd of unknown persons."
Boswell, who is Black, also allegedly yelled at Hudelson-Schmidgall and METEC Board President Leslie Vallar that "you two white women have no right running this organization."
That incident allegedly happened at a METEC board meeting on April 24, 2023, at which Boswell and others demanded Hudelson-Schmidgall and Vallar resign. The group, concerned over the direction of the nonprofit, consisted of former METEC employees, community leaders and members of the Mt. Zion Baptist Church, according to Boswell.
She alleged in 2023 that Hudelson-Schmidgall had used METEC to pay her husband's consulting firm, paid staff with Walmart gift cards and misused the METEC credit card. All allegations have been denied by Hudelson-Schmidgall.
A Peoria Police Department investigation into the embezzlement allegations against Hudelson-Schmidgall was closed in May 2023 because of a lack of evidence that she had embezzled money, according to police spokeswoman Semone Roth.
Boswell took to social media and the media to voice her concerns with Hudelson-Schmidgall. In an interview with WEEK-TV, Boswell made "defamatory" comments against Hudelson-Schmidgall, according to court documents. Boswell had accused Hudelson-Schmidgall of funneling money to her husband's company.
“She and her husband created a company, and they are putting money into that company from METEC," Boswell told WEEK-25 in April 2023. "That is a direct violation of the conflict of interest of the bylaws and all accounting procedures at the organization. You cannot have a direct benefit from the organization.”
Boswell also accused Hudelson-Schmidgall of not paying three of METEC's Black employees after hearing complaints they were not getting paid. Hudelson-Schmidgall alleges the WEEK interview was part of "character assassination" in which Boswell made statements that were "untrue or reckless in their disregard of their truth or falsity."
In comments on METEC's Facebook page, Boswell made references to a 2013 DUI arrest of Chad Schmidgall, captioning the comment with "these are the people METEC's board of directors prefer to do business with," according to court documents.
Chad Schmidgall paid fines and received 12 months of court supervision after he plead guilty to DUI, according to court records.
Vallar, the president of the METEC Board of Directors, declined to comment for this story.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Past and present of Peoria nonprofit collide in court
