In 2016, Greg Cruz, a former gang member, felon and single father of four, began making a dozen sandwiches at a time on his kitchen counter and taking them to Sarasota’s City Hall to hand out to homeless individuals.

That simple act became part of the origin story of Streets of Paradise, a local nonprofit that has provided meals, home furnishings and resiliency services to Sarasota’s unhoused community for nearly a decade, operating almost entirely with the devoted support of volunteers dedicated to its “Love-Act-Repeat” philosophy.

Though Cruz did not found the organization alone, his personal history and visibility made him inseparable from the group’s identity.

That’s why his abrupt firing last week stunned supporters and unleashed a wave of anger online.

Streets of Paradise’s board of directors abruptly dismissed Cruz “without cause” at a brief board meeting, leaving his longtime partner and co-CEO Cathy Bryant as sole leader. It offered him two weeks severance pay while dictating confidentiality, non-compete and donor solicitations restrictions for the next 12 months.

When Cruz disclosed the firing on Facebook, the backlash was immediate. Volunteers, donors and community members filled social media with comments of outrage and disbelief, calling for transparency the board says it cannot provide.

In the days since, Suncoast Searchlight spoke with all of the major figures at the center of the turmoil. What emerged was a portrait of an organization in conflict: Cruz said he still has no idea why he was dismissed; Bryant framed the decision as painful but necessary for a nonprofit in transition; and board chair Susan Nilon maintained the board cannot discuss personnel matters but suggested Cruz could share more if he chose.

“No reason was given,” Cruz told Suncoast Searchlight. “It’s hard to fire me without cause and then tell the community to ‘ask him what the reason is.’ It almost would have been better if there were a reason, because for something that would have so much impact, you would hope there actually was a cause.”

The clash of narratives has only intensified the furor, pitting a beloved founder and his devoted supporters against a board and staff who said they are committed to moving the organization toward a more structured and sustainable future.

The board’s decision to “go in a different direction” was, according to an email sent to Streets of Paradise supporters by Bryant, “not a decision made lightly.”

“Out of respect for all involved,” she wrote, “we do not discuss personnel matters publicly, but please know that every step was guided by our responsibility to the mission and to the people we serve.”

That didn’t pacify the many angry online commenters who responded to Cruz’s social media post. They recalled his role as the public face of Streets of Paradise, the man whose lived experience and persistence built the nonprofit into a fixture of Sarasota’s safety net. 

Supporters Say Cruz Was the Heart of Streets of Paradise

Part of the allure was Cruz’s own personal history. 

He grew up in the foster care system, dropped out of reform school and did time in prison before reshaping his life into one defined by service — channeling the challenges he endured into compassion for those struggling on the streets.

Two years after he started making those sandwiches in his kitchen, Cruz, along with co-founder Allan Mestel, incorporated Streets of Paradise as a 501(c)(3). Not long thereafter Mestel left the nonprofit due to conflicts with Cruz, and Bryant came on board. 

From feeding people to furnishing apartments, Cruz and Bryant embodied the “Love-Act-Repeat” philosophy daily, building an army of volunteers and a mountain of good will. Without Cruz, however, supporters fear  the organization’s spirit will be lost.

“He fed people because he knew what it’s like to be hungry,” wrote one commenter. “He furnished homes because he knew what it felt like to sleep on the street….  He walked with humility and love and helped me when no one else would. … He IS the heart of Streets of Paradise.”

Nilon quickly expanded the five-member board, adding Carter Donovan and Moira DeSear to the roster, which also includes Jeanette Ocasio, whom Nilon had previously recommended to the board before joining it herself in January.

According to sources within the organization, an almost immediate friction developed between Nilon, who publishes a newsletter—"The Stress-Free CEO," which assists female entrepreneurs—and Cruz, the only male and African American in the nonprofit’s administration.

Nilon’s management style has caused issues before. After she became president of the Sarasota chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union in 2019, a majority of its board members resigned. At the time, Nilon said she sought to impose more structure on the chapter and its meetings in order to do “bigger things” within the community. Likewise, she told Suncoast Searchlight she believes Streets of Paradise needs more structure and accountability in order to meet its commitments and expand its outreach.

The organization’s latest nonprofit tax filing for 2024 shows revenues of just under $386,000, expenses of $258,000 and assets of $87,000. It received no governmental funding or grants, and its largest charitable donation for the year was $18,000 from a couple in Naples.

Nilon also encouraged Bryant, who has long managed the organization’s finances and daily operations, to take a more visible and empowered role. In a Facebook post Nilon made Sunday, which included a photo of Bryant handing out meals at the organization’s weekly “foodshare,” she praised Bryant as “the heart and sole [sic]” of the nonprofit.

“She has worked quietly in the background with her nose to the ground for over 10 years,” Nilon wrote. “It’s been too long since she has gotten the recognition she deserves … she is what makes the organization run.”

Leaders Defend Decision as Painful but Necessary

Bryant, who declined to be interviewed but agreed to answer Searchlight questions by email, called the decision to terminate Cruz “part of the natural growth” of a grassroots nonprofit.

“This is less about one person or a single point in time, and more about the reality of how nonprofits grow and evolve,” she wrote, adding that growth brings new challenges and new structures. “Many nonprofits face painful moments as they shift from being personality-driven to being mission-driven organizations.”

Nilon agrees.

“Every nonprofit that starts out with a bleeding heart and compassion, I commend them, but eventually it grows beyond the individual and becomes a stable part of the community,” she tells Suncoast Searchlight. “This is no longer a nonprofit that operates out of someone’s living room. There were commitments made, and we just had to make the organization tighter and sounder to live up to our promises.”

Nilon pointed to several recent changes as evidence of progress. Among them: an inventory system for donated furniture and furnishings; two new delivery vehicles and the opening of the Resiliency Hub near the Sarasota-Bradenton airport. The hub, outfitted with a kitchen, showers, laundry and meeting space, will double as a disaster-relief center and a rental venue for other nonprofits. 

Meanwhile, Streets of Paradise’s long-running programs, such as the food share and home-furnishing effort for the previously unhoused, are set to continue.

Both Nilon and Bryant say they anticipated the backlash from the community in reaction to Cruz’s dismissal.

“I did foresee that emotions would run high,” Bryant told Suncoast Searchlight. “My choice has been to respond by staying grounded in the truth: Our mission has not changed, our heart has not changed, and the work continues every single day.”

As for the personal pain of the split, Bryant added:

“This is deeply difficult. Greg and I poured years into building SOP side by side, and I honor that history. We also have a deep friendship outside of work. I also know my responsibility is to lead SOP forward with dignity and stability for those we serve, for Greg and everyone else who poured their hearts and tears into this, for every supporter and the community that needs us.”

Despite the online outcry from community members vowing to pull support from Streets of Paradise or back Cruz’s next venture—including a “We Stand With Greg Cruz” GoFundMe that set a $2,800 goal but has raised just $200—Nilon says not a single partner, donor or volunteer has withdrawn. The Red Cross, a primary partner, even reaffirmed its collaboration after the news broke.

“The only resistance we’ve gotten is online,” she says. “We hope that in time, they will see nothing has changed, that they will give us a chance to show that we’re going to continue providing not only the services we already provide, but will become an even greater participant in meeting unmet needs.

“The only other thing we can do at this point is to say we wish Greg well and hope he lands on his feet.”

At least one former Streets of Paradise fan isn’t buying that.

“SOP looks different to me already,” Cruz says. “A culture shift is happening. We didn’t deal with people the way I was dealt with. To not have that grace and compassion for me as was part of the culture we spent so many years building seems like a total contradiction.”

This story was produced by Suncoast Searchlight, a nonprofit newsroom of the Community News Collaborative serving Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties. Learn more at suncoastsearchlight.org.