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The board of directors of the financially troubled YWCA voted Thursday to consider selling its property in the heart of downtown.

The board’s president, Judi Rossabi, said the Y would like to lease the 37-year-old building from a potential buyer and use it until the nonprofit could mount a capital campaign and find a new home nearby.

The sale, which has been an option since 2002, would also bring in some needed cash. The Y could not meet its payroll last Friday and owes more than $100,000.

Rossabi said she didn’t know what the property at 1 YWCA Place might bring, adding that she could not immediately provide the square footage of the building or the acreage on which it sits.

“I don’t know that the building is worth that much, but the property is worth a lot because of its location,” Rossabi said. “I don’t know what the price of downtown (property) is right now.”

Rossabi said the Y had been approached by potential buyers over the years, but could not say who might be interested in the property, which is a part of the Greensboro cultural district. “This decision was just made today so I don’t know if anybody knows about it yet,” she said, adding. “We need to move quickly.”

The board finds itself fighting for the agency’s survival.

The agency’s cash flow problems surfaced last month after former Executive Director Adrienne Witherspoon was asked to leave.
Witherspoon, in an e-mail earlier this week, said she would respond “at the right time, in the right venue and under the right circumstances.”

Among other action Thursday, the board:

• Chose to bring in an interim executive director. To help do that, the regional office, headed by Carolyn Flowers, who ran the Greensboro YWCA before Witherspoon, can pay up to $10,000 of the interim director’s salary. That money doesn’t have to be repaid.

“That will give them time to do a full search and find the right match,” Flowers said. “(As candidates) we are looking at community people who understand nonprofits.”

The board hopes to have an interim director in place by Dec. 1.

• Identified another $40,000 that can be used to pay outstanding bills. That money includes a $10,000, interest-free loan from the regional Y office, plus some endowment money and capital funds that can be moved to the Y’s operating budget.
• Agreed to explore the possibility of sharing administrative personnel with other nonprofits.
• Agreed to consider reducing hours during December to cut costs.

“I was most impressed with the board and their desire to get in there and get it done and save the YW,” Flowers said. “My hat’s off to them and the staff.”

Y officials also met Thursday with officials from the United Way of Greater Greensboro, which allocates about $28,000 monthly to the agency.

“They felt confident that they are getting on top of their financial condition and would take the steps necessary to keep their vital programs functional,” said Keith Barsuhn, the United Way’s president and CEO. “We have no reason to believe that they would be misleading us.”

Barsuhn said his office will continue to monitor the Y’s financial situation.

Y officials also said they hope to have a scheduled audit, which began Monday, completed by the end of the year.

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