Two leaders of a Chicago nursing organization were charged Wednesday with diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars in state aid for personal use, according to The State Journal-Register of Springfield, Ill.

A federal grand jury indictment accuses Margaret A. Davis, program director for the Chicago Chapter of the Black Nurses Association, and Tonja Cook, the group’s treasurer, of stealing at least $500,000 of the more than $1-million the organization secured in grants and contracts from state agencies from 2005 to 2009.

Ms. Davis allegedly used the money to pay her mortgage and other bills and hire her granddaughter.

The two women pleaded not guilty. The nurses association did not return a call for comment, according to the newspaper.