The real shame of the Samadhi affair isn’t the sloppy accounting and possible misuse of millions in public and private funds by the imploding addiction treatment provider. The real shame is unless and until somebody or something steps up to fill the hole Samadhi’s left behind, a lot of suffering people will go without help and there’s a good chance that some of them will die.

Two weeks ago, Samadhi laid off more than three quarters of its workforce after a double shot of more bad money news for the organization, which just a week before that had to close its shelter in Saugerties. Samadhi found out the county wouldn’t reimburse some $400,000 for individuals who stayed there while ineligible for or not enrolled in an emergency housing program run by the county Department of Social Services. Officials at the nonprofit, Samadhi board member Kathy Nolan told Kingston Wire, mistakenly believed that they would be given an opportunity to retroactively enroll qualified clients in the housing program and get paid back for their earlier stay. (DSS Commissioner Michael Iapoce has said that the nonprofit had been consistently informed about reimbursement requirements since they began participating in the emergency housing program in 2023.)

But that was chicken feed compared to losing the support of Peter Buffett’s NoVo in Kingston foundation, which had pumped over $2 million in cash into Samadhi since 2020. This figure does not include what NoVo gave them last year, but according to media reports, the organization thought it would be getting almost $350,000 more from NoVo this year until the foundation announced its cutoff on April 15. Earlier this year, after auditors found they couldn’t account for some $55,000 in ATM withdrawals made in 2022, County Comptroller March Gallagher decided to stop payment of a $797,000 county grant of opioid litigation settlement money pending the results of an audit on Samadhi’s 2023 financials. God only knows what that, and an audit on last year’s numbers, will turn up.

The group vows to carry on, but exactly how, its reputation in shreds and its funders in full retreat, is an open question. “A year ago we raised the red flag on the financial and administrative controls at Samadhi,” Gallagher stated earlier this month. “We tried to work with them to obtain compliance, but they refused our requests for information needed to bring controls.” We can’t think of a worse thing a donor would want to hear about a group they’ve given to. It just screams cover-up.

On the surface, Samadhi was a great story: a former addict starts a grassroots treatment service, incorporating some different approaches to dealing with one of Ulster’s most difficult problems. Considering that half the people in this woo woo bin of a county will fall in love with anything if you slap a Buddhist-sounding name on it, we don’t blame the county and NoVo for going all-in on Samadhi. Its non-traditional approach centered around “mindfulness” — another powerful word in these parts — and meeting addicts where they were — where they’ve always been, under the Elmendorf Street bridge — fit in perfectly with Ulster’s communal vibe.

But as Bob Dylan said, to live outside the law [do things your own way] you must be honest. Or at least have your bookkeeping together enough to withstand an audit. Samadhi did not. Its decline is a cautionary tale for any nonprofit which has rules to follow attached to the money it raises. Your Editorial Team cannot imagine in a million years something like this happening at Family of Woodstock, People’s Place, Catholic Charities or any number of nonprofits. The simple truth is, if you want to help people you need resources, and to get and keep those resources, you must scrupulously follow the conditions those resources came with.

One thing that’s stuck in our craw are those unaccountable-for ATM withdrawals. The $55,000 in 2022 was just the beginning. Gallagher’s own examination of Samadhi’s 2023 financials found the group that year had made $134,830 in ATM and cash withdrawals and $60,308 in cash transfers using apps like Venmo and PayPal. Many of the transfers, which averaged $976, went to individuals with active drug addictions, the report alleged. Gallagher’s report also identified $17,310 in transfers to bank accounts of McNamara and family members.

While Samadhi Executive Director David McNamara says the withdrawals were for good things like flowers, gifts and meals to celebrate clients’ sober anniversaries or other accomplishments, no one could be blamed for suspecting that at least some of that money served as a stimulus program for Ulster’s drug dealers. The line between empathy and enabling can be quite fine, but those who work with addicts, who when in their illness’ claws will say anything to feed that beast, must know exactly where it is at all times.

So yes, while Samadhi vows to carry on, we don’t think they should. The county can collaborate with nonprofits to reorganize a similar effort with a new name — Dharma, Bodhisattva, Mahasiddha, whatever — and new, more conscientious leadership. We hope they do. In the meantime, we as a community can mourn the opportunity Samadhi squandered and do our best to limit the collective collateral damage.