HAMPTON, Va. — A local nonprofit is likely owed at least $25,000 from the Virginia Department of Treasury.
The Patient Advocate Foundation, a nonprofit that helps people with health care access, is among the thousands of organizations, businesses and individuals that have unclaimed funds being held by the state.
"It's just amazing that it's sitting there, and we can go get it now and put it to good use," said Alan Balch, the CEO of the Patient Advocate Foundation.
Watch previous coverage: Gov. Youngkin signs 'Cash Now Act' after News 3 unclaimed property investigation
According to the Virginia Treasurer, Virginia currently has about $3.8 billion in unclaimed property being held by the state treasury department.
"I was aware of this for personal reasons, and actually had received some money from unclaimed property, and I don't know why, but it never occurred to me to think about our business and our nonprofit," Balch said.
The WTKR News 3 Investigative Team has been looking into unclaimed property in Virginia for over a year.
Watch previous coverage: Does the Department of Treasury have money that's owed to you?
Our reporting helped expose some of the issues and prompted lawmakers to introduce new legislation to make it easier for the public to get their money. Now, the treasurer can automatically send checks to individuals owed less than $5,000 without requiring them to file a claim online.
The state has also started providing more specific online information about the amounts owed to people.
"I think that your reporting was critical in making this happen," said Ron Lizzi, an unclaimed property watchdog who first reached out to WTKR about the issue.
Lizzi has been sending information to organizations like the Patient Advocate Foundation, showing them how much money they are owed.
Balch said he has filed 65 claims, and they're likely owed at least $25,000 — potentially more.
"It's such a dream to find maybe $25,000 or more that we can put directly in the hands of people to help them pay for health care," Balch said.
Lizzi believes more can be done across the country to ensure states are doing their job to return unclaimed funds to the rightful owners.
"States have well over $100 billion and states are not doing their job. It's their job to return this money when they can and they are not making a good faith effort to do that," Lizzi said.
Residents can check if they are owed any unclaimed funds in Virginia here. You can check nationally here.
