FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) -- It's a bit of a head-scratcher. Why would a church help build a house to donate to one of its ministry clients, only to take the offer off the table and tear the house down? Broken promises, strained finances, and poor communication all played a role, as 15 Finds Out spent weeks trying to learn what happened. FaMBET, helping exit foster care Five to ten years ago, things seemed to be going well for FaMBET, a ministry of Love Church. At fundraisers supported by heavy hitters such as Sweetwater and Ambassador Enterprises, Pastor Wallace Butts would speak movingly of FaMBET's mission to provide hope to teens who were aging out of the foster care system. Pastor Wallace Butts with FaMBET student Fay Biddle. He explained on local Christian radio that teens in the three-year residential program would become "healed for real" and, with enough support, the program could expand from seven clients to 40. WANE 15 called Love Auto Repair shop, the low-cost certified mechanics who worked out of the church on East Berry St., "Positively Fort Wayne," because customers could fix their cars and fix people at the same time. FaMBET students were being trained in the shop and repair profits supported the ministry. The shop even offered concierge repair service to employees at Brotherhood Mutual and Parkview Health. By all appearances, Love Church seemed to be fulfilling its mission of "demonstrating Christ's love to the poor and needy" in Fort Wayne's East Central neighborhood, as it had done since 1986. Perhaps most impressively, FaMBET demonstrated the lofty program worked, as its first graduate received, as promised, a job, a car and a house. When reached by work email to comment for this story on his success with the program, the graduate wrote back, "I’ve given your request some thought and that is not something that I would like to do at this time." FaMBETForever Family a Mission of Business and Entrepreneurial Training 26,000 Young People “Age Out” of the Foster Care System nationally each year with no place to go and no family to support them. 1 in 5 will be homeless1 in 4 will be involved in the justice system within 2 years71% of the females will become pregnant by age 21Our three-year residential program is designed to heal, discover, develop, and empower each aged out person's unique ability https://web.archive.org/web/20241015031707/https://www.the-lc.org/ Despite multiple requests, the church provided no one to speak on camera, but Pastor Wallace, as he's known by the members, did communicate to WANE 15 by phone and email. "Our first graduate immediately received the deed to his house because we were confident he understood and fully embraced this community commitment," Pastor Wallace wrote. "He did not disappoint; he went on to invest in the church and community for four years after graduating, exemplifying FaMBET's intended impact." FaMBET graduate Fay Biddle would not be so fortunate. Fay Biddle Fay was born in Ethiopia, where her father died and her mom was incapable of caring for her. She says she bounced from orphanage to orphanage before she was adopted by a couple in Northeast Indiana. Things went badly for her adopted family, with the loss of a child, sending the relationship between Fay and her adopted mother into a tailspin. Fay saw the FaMBET program as a fresh start inside a new, hopefully lasting, family environment. COVID-19 and Taxes The COVID-19 pandemic was rough on churches, especially those who did not share a robust online presence with their congregations. In 2022, Love Church struggled to stay afloat, as COVID shrank both attendance and donations. At the same time, costs for utilities and insurance skyrocketed, and Allen County surprised the church with a never-seen-before property tax bill. Pastor Wallace wrote WANE 15 the church was "financially unsustainable" at that time. To receive a property tax exemption in Indiana, the land must be owned, occupied and used in a charitable way. In May of 2022, a routine field check by the Allen County Assessor's Office suggested the predominant use of the church property at 1331 East Berry Street was commercial: too much Love Auto Repair, not enough Love Church. The church could make a routine appeal, either to the county or the state, or refile an exemption application the following year. The Assessor's Office has no record of either. Public records show Love Church's struggles to pay property taxes. Instead, church leaders leaned into using the building in new commercial ways. The electronic sign out front advertises both warehouse and meeting space. Pastor Wallace says leasing space in the church building now covers all operational expenses. One of the recent, high-profile additions is Summit City Climbing Co., Fort Wayne's first rock climbing gym. When asked to comment for this story, a spokesperson wrote simply, "Summit City Climbing Co. only rents from Ashar Real Estate. There is no association with Love Church. Summit City Climbing Co. has no association to anything else that happens at 1331 E Berry Street." Ashar Real Estate In July, 2024, Love Church made a quitclaim deed transfer of its property to Ashar Real Estate, a company started and led by (Pastor) Wallace Butts, the only person listed on the company's website. Pastor Wallace explained the transfer solved a number of problems for the church, including making insurance more affordable. With the transfer, the LLC assumed the church's property tax debt, essentially leaving Pastor Wallace personally on the hook, which seemed better than selling the building, after the offers in 2023 came in too low. In 2024, the property's assessed value was $626,800. "Since I am the guarantor of most of the church’s debt - which is double the amount of the highest offer we received - the quitclaim transfer was a temporary measure to stabilize the situation," he wrote. "I am currently working with attorneys to restructure ownership under a sales agreement and formally file it with the state." Pastor Wallace said both the congregation and FaMBET residents were informed about the church’s financial situation and the resulting decisions. WANE 15 reached out to a lawyer with no connection to the ministry. Courtney Lynch, a partner with a special focus on non-profit organizations in her practice at the Quarles law firm in Indianapolis, said a quitclaim transfer from a 501(c)3 group to one of its officers is not common but can be done legally. "That would be scrutinized for a conflict of interest," she told 15 Finds Out. "If there is going to be a transfer where an officer is involved, it needs to be voted on by those officers who are not involved. "There are lots of things to consider." Pastor Wallace said Ashar Real Estate is working under an agreement to pay off all the church’s past debts. FaMBET conditions "House disbursement to residents graduating FaMBET is a privilege not a right." Pastor Wallace sent WANE 15 a letter to a graduating student. Pastor Wallace said the student had talked about selling his home and not living up to the spirit of FaMBET, which was for graduates to be planted into a community and serve. "The distribution of a house or covering rent for a year, are entirely at the discretion of FaMBET leadership and in no way guaranteed based on enrollment," the letter continued. "FaMBET, Donors, and Partners do not want to support giving a house with no strings attached." The letter gave the students a choice between a home build or rent disbursement. Either way, they were expected to stay in their home or apartment for three years and "actively pursue betterment of the community." In 2021, according to an email thread Pastor Wallace sent to WANE 15, Love Church rescinded its offer to a previous female graduate, instead putting her on a year of probation. "With the degree of impulsiveness and self-sabotage I’m seeing in her behavior it would not be good stewardship to turn a home over to her immediately," Pastor Wallace wrote at the time. Another leader wrote "If the goal is to provide housing for all graduates, the program is way behind." Fay's home Fay Biddle graduated from FaMBET later in 2021 and also chose to receive a house build. FaMBET bought a small lot on East Berry and drafted Jerry Yoder as a volunteer general contractor. Yoder remembered applying for variances with the city to put a right-sized, 760 square foot home on the compact property. Both Fay and Pastor Wallace suggested they led the effort to find workers, donated materials and the cash to build the home. Wallace said Yoder used a church credit card to buy numerous supplies. Yoder remembers the church paying for only two invoices and estimated his personal contribution to be around $24,000. Receipts examined by 15 Finds Out showed a mix of credit, cash and no charge donations. The home Fay worked on, before it was dismantled. The home's foundation was poured in the summer of 2022, when the church was struggling financially. Because the build was forced to rely heavily on volunteer labor and donated materials, progress was slow. Yoder pulled a second permit as the work lingered into year two. "We had some dry spells in there where there was nothing to do," he recalled. "And there's was no contract, there was nothing in writing. All I did was volunteer my time and told the church I would get the job done." Fay said she was told if the church kept the deed through construction, donors could receive a tax write-off for making a charitable contribution. FaMBET ends Pastor Wallace said the FaMBET program ended in January, 2024. Two months earlier, Fay had been told she could no longer live in the church dorm because the building was going to be put up for sale. "I was told on a Wednesday or Thursday to be out by the weekend, but I asked for a two or three day extension to find somewhere to go," she said. Pastor Wallace said the relationship with Fay became increasingly contentious, as she spent less time fulfilling her obligations to the ministry. He could not provide any written reprimand, but said in a small congregation, it was impossible not to know if she was there, fulfilling her duties as a church greeter. "While we did not implement a formal tracking system, this was unnecessary in our close-knit environment, where everyone’s involvement is apparent," he wrote. Fay contends she took a second job that often required her to work Sundays to help finish the house. She spent more time working inside the home as the projects, like painting and decorating, turned less labor-intensive. House offer rescinded In October of 2024, with the home "95 percent done," Yoder remembered asking Pastor Wallace for the deed so Fay could secure a small mortgage to finish the build by connecting the water and sewer to the nearby lots on Canal Street owned by Indiana Tech. Pastor Wallace told Yoder no. Fay didn't deserve the deed, he said, because she had not completed the community requirements of the program. But Pastor Wallace also said she could buy the deed for $25,000, an amount that would cover her room and board in the church dorm for the two years after she graduated. Pastor Wallace explained this move to 15 Finds Out as "tough love" and would ensure her financial accountability in the project. Fay sought help from Pastor Donovan Coley, the retired leader of the Fort Wayne Rescue Mission, while Pastor Wallace wanted to deal with Fay directly. Pastor Wallace said Coley threatened legal action and media exposure. "At that moment," Pastor Wallace told WANE 15, "the church decided we would not give in to these threats, to stand firm, placing our trust in the Lord, who sees and knows all things." (Editor's note: Coley was one of several people to contact WANE 15.) Now what? Public records show on January 30, 2025, Pastor Wallace sold the land earmarked for Fay's house to nearby Indiana Tech for $100,000. On February 27, a wrecking permit was filed in Allen County to tear the house down. When asked by WANE 15 why he was tearing down the house, the head of the company who filed for the permit said he would need to talk to his lawyer before making a comment. On February 28, Fay received the phone call that what she thought was her house, was being taken apart. Pastor Wallace said the house would be stored in the church's commercial warehouse, rebuilt on a different lot and then sold, with the proceeds used to reimburse donors. One of those donors owns a building supply company in New Haven. His records show he made material contributions of about $13,000. When he learned of the situation, he told 15 Finds Out that "like they say, 'no good deed goes unpunished' and I will, of course, not be donating to their causes in the future." Jason Kilgus runs BAC Electric, which stands for doing Business As a Christian. He said his company donated about $10,000 in labor and materials and questioned why Pastor Wallace didn't alert the donors and volunteers about the financial difficulties at the church. "What can we do together to complete this for the youth, their client," he wondered. The Indiana Attorney General's office confirmed to WANE 15 that at least one complaint has been filed against Love Church. Fay's friends want to set up a Go Fund Me to help her find another home. On Monday, no structure remained on the lot. All that remained was the dumpster. The lot where the house once stood. ...read more read less