Tax woes may close shelter

KOKOMO -- A nonprofit group might have to close a shelter for young pregnant women because of unpaid taxes on the house where it has been located for about a decade.\nNesting Doves has been renting the house from property owner Scott Pitcher, president of Fortune Management, since 1995. House residents, ranging in age from 13 to 23, learn nutritional skills, how to care for their babies, how to cook and clean and how to live as an adult.\n"When you're first starting out, you don't know things," said Katie McCracken, a 19-year-old who lived in the house when she was pregnant with her 11-month-old daughter. "You've never hooked up your phone or signed up for college."\nThe Christian charity has had trouble keeping up with rent. In 1998, Pitcher forgave a $55,000 debt and drew up a new contract which included rent at half the previous amount, said Sheilia Behler, Fortune Management's property manager.\nThe charity is again behind in payments, but this time Fortune Management is having cash flow problems and cannot write off the debt or lower the rent amount, Behler said.\nNesting Doves Director Teresa Bogan said the charity would be able to catch up payments in a few months, but the house is listed for a property tax sale Oct. 15.\nNesting Doves board member Julie Baker said if the home is sold, the charity could try to lease the home from a new owner.\nIn the mean time, the organization is trying to raise $250,000 by the end of October to buy the home, pay off the taxes and make needed repairs. The group has raised $12,000 to $13,000 after sending letters soliciting money from churches and individuals who regularly contribute to it.\nThe charity does not accept government money because it would restrict religious teachings at the center.\n"We are very Biblically based," Bogan said. "These girls go to church every Sunday and they learn to live a Christian life"