ANAHEIM : Eli Home Cleared in State Investigation

A state investigation into the operation of the Eli Home, a shelter for abused women and their children, has found no evidence of wrongdoing, officials with the state attorney general’s office said Thursday.

The embattled charity has been engaged in a bitter battle with its future neighbors in Anaheim Hills, where the Eli Home plans to open a shelter. Neighbors have accused the home’s operators of misusing donated funds.

The state’s investigation centered on allegations that operators Michael and Lorri Galloway had distributed Eli Home literature containing false information and had improperly rented their Huntington Beach condominium to their charity. Investigators have not revealed who filed the complaint.

“We are not going to take any action on the complaint,” said James Cordi, a deputy attorney general in Los Angeles. “We didn’t think that either of the charges had any merit.”

Lorri Galloway said Thursday that a state investigator had pored over the organization’s financial records, examined all of its leases for various properties, checked client files and interviewed board members and staff therapists.

“They checked everything,” said Galloway, who added that she hoped the investigation would end public speculation about the organization’s financial condition and motives.

“We are always financially strapped, but we’re not a burden on the county or anyone else,” she said.

“We raise money through private donations and do it the best way we know how.”

The Eli Home has been honored in the past by two U.S. presidents.