CFD sucks the life out of local nonprofits

BY RICHARD JOHNSON

Recently, a Cheyenne nonprofit posted on its Facebook page:

"A few months ago, at a staff meeting, I shared that summer is the leanest time for donations and that we would be entering this season well behind last year."

They aren’t the only nonprofit feeling the pinch.

At a seminar in Sheridan, I learned that 80 percent of Wyoming nonprofits operating statewide reside in Cheyenne. That’s a lot of organizations sucking resources from

Give to COMEA at http://www.comeashelter.org/get-involved/donate/

 the same bleeding philanthropists in our city. Unlike Gregory Rasputin, it doesn't look like anything can stop the hemorrhaging of this hemophiliac. 

COMEA, the local homeless shelter, has a $65,000 annual mortgage plus utilities bills. That’s the equivalent to about 550 mayoral flower pots. Is it any wonder the shelter had to change policy to focus more on the local homeless population and less on the transient vampires who blow through on the Wyoming breeze? 

As I have stated before, the “Colorado kill shelter rescues" and the train hoppers are parasitic on Cheyenne’s charitable nature. If bleeding hearts were $100 bills, I wouldn’t be writing this. 

I asked around, pondering the question and wondering: Where do Cheyenne's charitable donations go? 

Depends who you ask. Don’t bring up the local opulent, 10-day Western celebration unless you want to be publicly executed by the social media lynch mob. At least one Old West tradition is still alive! 

Many local businesses blow their whole donation budgets on this festival alone, giving Cheyenne explanations like, "Sorry, we gave our money to tradition. It has nothing to do with who is dating that committee chair or what VP just got moved up the ladder and got the box seats." 

It’s just part of doing business, right? The skybox with air conditioning and full buffet has more clout that serving food at the shelter. Hope the $45 volunteer entry fee got you enough street cred and watered down domestic beer to get you through 2019.

I guess I could just quote Mathew 6:1-4:  

"Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them."

Budgets are tight, and you can’t always compare apples to apples when it comes to charity. Most nonprofits would prefer that their existence be permanently written into city code. Say they have the misfortune of experiencing a public health disaster or an embezzlement scandal, then they are able to ask the government to pick up budgetary shortfalls. 

(If that's your strategy, I wish you good luck getting a meeting to see if you can actually get some help from City Hall. You'll probably just hear, "Sorry, the boss had another engagement come up to bask in the limelight. She sent another department head in her place.")

Since time began, humankind has been in a tailspin of social decay. It is so easy to talk down, belittle and demean instead of lift and promote. 

Today I saw a guy at the grocery store I knew from COMEA. He was wearing nice clothes and had his hair combed with a smile on his face. He told me he had a job and his own place. He asked me if I was still on City Council and what I was doing.

Did I directly or indirectly assist in the change in his life path by assisting a nonprofit? Maybe, maybe not. The fact is, a success, even a small one, can change a person’s world. 

What needs to change in Cheyenne to actually help great nonprofits like the COMEA shelter stay operational, if not thriving?

I’ll leave that up to you. 

Richard Johnson is a former City Council member from Ward 3 on Cheyenne’s east side.