CHICOPEE — A migrant shelter in western Massachusetts quietly funneled nearly one million dollars in taxpayer money to a board member’s grocery store — with no contract, no bidding process, and no state oversight for more than a year.

The Deal They Didn’t Disclose
The Valley Opportunity Council, a nonprofit selected to run a state-funded shelter in Chicopee, handed the lucrative catering job to Key Food Marketplace, a local grocery chain owned by Tony Diaz — who also sits on the nonprofit’s board of directors. The deal was made through a handshake.

No contract. No vote. No competitive process. Just a board member landing a taxpayer-funded payday under the radar, while the state had no idea it was happening.

According to reporting by the Boston Globe, the arrangement only came to light in November 2024 after someone filed an anonymous complaint — more than a year and a half after Diaz started delivering meals to migrant families staying at the Quality Inn.

By then, Diaz’s store had already raked in $945,865 in public funds. The state housing agency, which oversees the shelter system, was never told about the conflict. Nor were taxpayers. State officials didn’t even know who was providing the food.

A System Built on Trust, Not Transparency
Executive Director Stephen Huntley said he “trusted” Diaz and defended the deal as a reasonable arrangement. He claimed to have called other vendors for price checks, but declined to name them. The nonprofit’s board never approved the deal — they were simply “informed” after the fact.

The Healey Administration’s Shelter Free-For-All
This is what shelter management has looked like under Massachusetts’ Democratic leadership: high-dollar contracts handed out behind closed doors, little to no transparency, and millions of dollars moving around with barely a trace.

Governor Maura Healey’s administration has spent nearly a billion dollars on the state’s emergency shelter system since 2023, rapidly expanding into 128 hotels to house over 23,000 people. But from the start, the system has been plagued by no-bid contracts, poor oversight, and spiraling costs.

In another case, the state signed a $9.4 million no-bid deal with Spinelli’s Ravioli Manufacturing in East Boston — paying nearly $20 per meal — despite complaints about food quality. That deal was also quietly arranged, without public input or competitive bids.

While Healey held press conferences and pledged compassion, her administration paid little attention to where the money actually went.

DiZoglio Sounds the Alarm
Enter State Auditor Diana DiZoglio, one of the few elected Democrats willing to call out the dysfunction. In May, she released a scathing audit blasting the Healey administration for its reliance on multimillion-dollar no-bid contracts, poor documentation, and lax oversight. Her report flagged Spinelli’s contract as excessive and unjustified. It didn’t catch the Valley Opportunity Council deal — because nonprofits aren’t even required to report board conflicts to the state.

That’s not just a paperwork issue. That’s a system built to avoid scrutiny.

Where Did the Money Go?
Watchdog groups are sounding the alarm. The Pioneer Institute called the Chicopee deal a textbook example of how insider relationships thrive when nobody’s watching.

The Chicopee shelter has since closed. The money has been spent. And the public is only now learning where it went.

No questions asked. No paperwork filed. No one held accountable. Just another quiet transaction in a state where taxpayer dollars disappear faster than the headlines that follow.

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