WordPress search with quotations returning to homepage

I’m currently trying to debug a problem with a site. When I use our search, it works perfectly fine, unless I try to search with single or double quotation marks.

For example, if I search facebook, it works fine, but if I search “facebook” it returns me to my homepage.

The site can be viewed at: http://ccdev.gnof.org/

The code for searchform.php:

<div id="searchOverlay" style="display:none;background:rgba(250,250,250,.9);z-index:999999;position:fixed;top:0;left:0;right:0;bottom:0;">

<form method="get" id="searchform" action="<?php echo esc_url( home_url( '/' ) ); ?>">
<div id="closeSearch" style="position:absolute;top:110px;right:50%;margin-right:-460px;font-family: 'Open Sans Condensed', sans-serif;text-transform:uppercase;cursor:pointer;color:#333;"><span style="color:#f66;font-family:helvetica, sans-serif;">X</span> Close</div>
<input type="text" id="searchInput" placeholder="Search GNOF" onclick="value=''" style="width:910px;border:0 none;left:50%; margin-left:-475px;top:20px;position:absolute;box-shadow:none;font-family: 'Open Sans Condensed', sans-serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:40px;margin-top:115px;padding:0 20px;height:100px;background:none;" autofocus="true" name="s"/>
<input type="image" src="http://civiccenter.cc/images/search.png" width="12" height="12" id="searchsubmit" value="Search" border="0" />
</form>
<p style="color:#000; width:910px; margin:185px auto;">Begin typing to search, then press enter.</p>
</div>

and the code for search.php:

<?php

/* 
*/
?>

<?php get_header(); ?>


    <!-- News Feed Begins -->

    <div class="container section page"> <!-- the additional page class tell us that this div needs a margin on top too -->

        <div class="row">

            <div class="span8 news-feed">

                <div class="feed-title">
                    <p><small><i>Search Results for <?php echo get_search_query(); ?></i></small></p>
                    <hr>
                </div>


                <?php while ( have_posts() ) : the_post(); ?><br>  
<div class="feed-item">
                    <h2><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>
                    <p><small><i>Posted to 
                        <?php //the_time('F j'); ?> 
                         <?php //the_category(); ?>

                        <?php
                        $categories = get_the_category();
                        $separator = ', ';
                        $output = '';
                        $i = 0;
                        $catArr = array();
                        $exclude = array('Newsroom', 'Our Community', 'Announcement - Urgent', 'Announcement', 'Grants', 'Front Page Large Feature');
                        if($categories){
                            foreach($categories as $category) {
                                if(!in_array($category->cat_name,$exclude)){
                                    array_push($catArr, $category);

                                }
                            }
                            $len = count($catArr);


                            foreach($catArr as $cat){
                                $output .= '<a href="'.get_category_link($cat->term_id ).'" title="' . esc_attr( sprintf( __( "View all posts in %s" ), $cat->name ) ) . '">'.$cat->cat_name.'</a>';
                                $i++;
                                if($i < ($len - 1)){
                                 $output .= $separator;
                                }

                            }


                            echo($output);

                        }else {
                            echo 'General';
                        }
                        ?>
                                                <span class="pull-right">
                             <?php //comments_number('No Comments', 'One Comment', '% Comments' );?> 
                        </span></i></small></p>
                    <hr>
                    <?php the_excerpt();?>
                    <p><i><a href="<?php echo get_permalink(); ?>">Continue Reading...</a></i></p>
                    <hr>
                </div>
                <?php endwhile;

                 // end of the loop. ?><br>  



                <!-- Ten items per page -->

                <div class="pagination">
                    <?php posts_nav_link( ' • ', 'Older Articles', 'Newer Articles' ); ?> 
                </div>

            </div>

            <!-- Selection of side-bar  banners begins -->
            <div class="offset1 span3">

                <?php include('sidebar-block-our-work.php'); ?>

                <?php include('sidebar-block-receive.php'); ?>

            </div>
            <!-- Selection of side-bar banners ends -->

        </div>

    </div>

    <!-- News Feed Ends --> 

    <!-- Banner Block Begins -->

    <?php include('sidebar-banner-our-community.php'); ?>

    <!-- Banner Block Ends -->


<?php get_footer(); ?>

Any help would be greatly appreciated!