The recent challenge by a local man over operation of the county’s battered women’s shelter has led to questions about financial operation of the organization’s governing body.

They are concerns that officers of the Ashe County Partnership for Children say are invalid and backed up by a state mandated audit.

The Partnership organized and has operated A Safe Home for Everyone for the last 14 years. In December a disgruntled former volunteer, Ron Yancey, led an effort to incorporate an organization under the name A Safe Home for Everyone Inc.

Partnership officials were afraid Yancey’s organization would be confused with their organization, leading to misunderstandings about where women in need of the program should turn for help and who donors should contact.

One question surrounds a loan taken out by the Partnership, using the safe home property as collateral. The question involved the propriety of using an asset gained through donations for a shelter to raise money for other projects.

Partnership Chairwoman Patricia Calloway said all money was used appropriately and the Partnership has the legal authority to obtain the line of credit on the property.

“The Partnership held a mortgage on the shelter,” Calloway said. “Someone called and talked to a (Partnership) staff member and asked what our most pressing need was. We said the safe home, which at the time was one of our pressing needs and later a check arrived in the amount of the remainder of the mortgage.” That amount was about $78,000.

Calloway stressed that the anonymous donor was asking about all pressing needs initially. The check for the donation included a note specifying the safe home as the beneficiary. That person was notified about the Partnership’s plan to use the shelter property for establishing a line of credit.

The Partnership sought the line of credit to help with cash flow issues it faces because it is funded by diverse grants. Funding is not always released when the bills have to be paid. Ultimately the Partnership knows it will get the money.

Use of a short term loan is a practice that is used by non-profits and others to cover on-going expenses they know will be covered by future revenue. “We did it because we had to be able to pay our employees,” Calloway said.

Money used from the line of credit is to be repaid through appropriate accounting measures as the grant funding becomes available.

The finances of the Partnership have proved to be complicated because of diverse funding sources with varying requirements and restrictions.

The salary of one Partnership employee may be funded by multiple sources. The time that staffer spends in each area of his or her job must be accounted for to match restrictions of the funding sources.

The State of North Carolina requires an annual audit of Partnership funds, according to Treasurer Chris Robinson.