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GREENSBORO - The YWCA Greensboro faces a growing financial crisis that left the 105-year-old nonprofit unable to make its payroll on Friday.

"When you can't pay employees, you can't get any more dire than that," said Mildred Powell, the Y's development coordinator. "When you aren't paying your employees, you aren't paying your vendors either."

Powell would not say how much money the Y has left or how much it owes, but she did say that it is not in the red.

Even so, Powell said, the Y desperately needs the support of the community.

"I don't believe the Y has ever been in such a situation before," she said. "Even the Depression didn't put us where we are today."

Powell and others said they do not expect the Y, which is housed in an aging building at 1 YWCA Place downtown, to close or to have to lay off employees. The agency has 10 full-time staffers and about 40 part-timers.

"They are already down to the bare bones," said Carolyn Flowers, regional manager for 26 Ys in the Southeast and the former CEO of the Greensboro YWCA. "I don't think there is any extra to lay off."

Y officials said problems surfaced during the administration of Flowers' successor, Adrienne Witherspoon, who served as executive director from November 2007 to Oct. 21.

Judi Rossabi, president of the Y's board of directors, said Witherspoon was asked to leave.

"The YWCA board elected to have new leadership due to management concerns which are currently being addressed," said Rossabi, who took office in October. "It will take us time to sort it all out. We have identified the problem. We have taken the first step and we are calling on the community to help us regroup."

Efforts to locate Witherspoon were unsuccessful.

During Witherspoon's tenure, the Y went through four accountants. Rossabi said the agency's property insurance had not been paid and utility payments were in arrears.

Last fiscal year, she said, the agency spent $110,000 more than it took in.

"This has been a difficult year," Rossabi said. "We are developing a 90-day plan to deal with our future."

Rossabi said there is no evidence that any money has been misappropriated, although a scheduled audit will begin Monday.

The Y operates on a $1.4 million budget. About $267,000 comes from the United Way.

Y officials said they learned of the extent of the agency's financial problems immediately after Witherspoon's departure.

Rossabi said she and others have met with officials of the United Way of Greater Greensboro and the Weaver Foundation to alert them of the problems.

Keith Barsuhn, the United Way's president and CEO, said his organization issued its $28,000 November allocation to the Y about two weeks early and has set up a committee to investigate the agency's problems

On Nov. 4, Y officials told the staff the agency needed to pay employees monthly rather than every two weeks. The staff agreed that the change should begin in January. Workers had been paid monthly under Flowers' administration.

But as the Y board discovered the extent of the financial problems, it decided to put the change in place sooner. Employees learned Thursday that they would not be paid Friday.

"We were all very upset," Powell said. "I guess that is a fair description."

Flowers and Rossabi defended the board's action.

"We had to move very quickly to get our financial situation stabilized," Rossabi said. "We have had to make some difficult decisions."

Rossabi could not say how much Friday's payroll might have been.

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don.patterson@news-record.com