A fund that has received $17 million from an anonymous donor since 2005 to help Detroit residents in need will close at the end of April, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Administered by the Archdiocese of Detroit and operating in obscurity until a few weeks ago, the so-called Angel Fund has helped people in the archdiocese pay for necessities such as rent, medicine, and utilities. According to Monsignor Michael Bugarin, an archdiocesan official, the donor informed the archdiocese that he and his family had decided to adjust their philanthropic plans and that the fund, which was never intended to be permanent, would be closed as a result.

The fund's existence became public after a Detroit priest and an accomplice were charged in February with fraud-related felonies for allegedly stealing as much as $20,000 from the fund. The archdiocese, which after learning of the fraud froze the program from November 2012 to April 2013 to conduct an internal audit, said the donor's decision had nothing to do with the case. "The donor was disappointed, as we were," Bugarin told the Press. "But their intent was that they had to continue to do what they did. This was not going to stop them."

Grants from the fund, which were limited to $2,500 per recipient per year, could not be used for school tuition, but otherwise there were few restrictions attached to the assistance.

"We are very grateful for what he's done," said Sr. Jolene Van Handel, a pastoral minister at Detroit's Nativity Catholic Church, which has distributed some $42,000 in Angel Fund grants. "There are people who are very grateful that they have a house with heat and lights...because of the Angel Fund."