2024 state budget gave $350,000 to Somali Community Link
Ohio is facing fresh criticism for funding a Somali-led organization via the capital budget bill lawmakers passed in 2024.
House Bill 2, passed by the 135th General Assembly in 2024, included appropriations for grants distributed through state agencies to outside nonprofits for community services. The bill authorizes funding for community-based organizations that provide outreach, family assistance, and social services through state-administered programs.
Among the organizations that received funding from the state government under this bill was the Somali Community Link Center, which received $350,000.
“Of the foregoing appropriation item 600689, TANF Block Grant, $1,000,000 in fiscal year 2024 shall be used, in accordance with sections 5101.80 and 5101.801 of the Revised Code, to support the Somali Community Link’s Social Service Program,” the text of the bill said.
Conservative activist Brigitte Gabriel highlighted the group’s funding on X and criticized it.
“Can someone explain to me why the state of Ohio is spending $350,000 on a Somali Community Link Center?” she wrote. “Isn’t Ohio run by Republicans?”
In the follow-up post, she mentioned that the “Somali Community Link Center provides assistance with housing, meals, jobs, legal counsel, and more to Somali refugees in central Ohio,” indirectly stating that all of that is now funded by American taxpayers.
“This should not be funded by the taxpayers,” she wrote.
The Somali Community Link Center provides assistance with housing, meals, jobs, legal counsel, and more to Somali refugees in central Ohio.
This should not be funded by the taxpayers. pic.twitter.com/KYpRB1fW02
— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) January 8, 2026
The revelation comes amid an alleged Somali fraud scandal in Minnesota and ongoing investigations into potential fraud in Ohio.
Republican lawmakers became concerned about potential fraud in publicly funded programs, with some of them calling for investigations and audits following allegations against Somali-run nonprofits to protect Ohio from the immigrant group receiving money from public funds.
The officials also launched “integrity reviews” of Ohio’s publicly-funded child care programs and the launch of portals that allow Ohioans to report fraud. As expected, candidates running in the 2026 election used the recent scandal to reassure potential voters that they will address it if elected.
Among those people was Republican Secretary of State candidate Marcell Strbich. Attorney General Dave Yost also said he will protect Ohio from fraud.
Unlike most Republican officials, Gov. Mike DeWine downplayed the fraud allegations, saying the fraud is rare.
Andy Hoffman, owner of the daycare center Academy of Young Minds in Wadsworth, said the narrative that daycare providers can easily manipulate the system ignores the daily reality of running a licensed center in Ohio.
“To me, it’s insulting,” he said. “With the amount of oversight that I experience on a given day, it’s basically a slap in the face of the entire industry.”
