People First of Wyoming Cheyenne Chapter Holds November Meeting at Local YMCA

Cheyenne, Wyoming -- On Sunday, November 8 at the Cheyenne Family YMCA, the People First of Wyoming Cheyenne Chapter held its monthly meeting. People First of Wyoming is an organization that advocates on behalf of adults with disabilities. The weather was mild in the capital city for the People First of Wyoming Cheyenne Chapter meeting, and had much better attendance (I counted 29 people), compared to the previous month of just 11 people due to lots of snowfall on the roads and inclement weather.

Annual Christmas Party The Main Focus of the People First of Wyoming Cheyenne Chapter Meeting

The 75 minute meeting opened with audience member Sarah winning the monthly "50-50" Drawing, where those in attendance can put in some money and one name is drawn to get half the take. In Sarah's case, it was $6, but she donated her winnings to the cookie fund for post-meeting refreshments, which is generally soda and cookies.

One of the interesting aspects of these meetings is that early on, all in attendance introduce themselves while passing around an American flag. Because of the high attendance, this took longer than usual. One couple came from Laramie, Wyoming, and has had prior dealings with the disability community in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

After the minutes of the October 2009 meeting, the treasurer's report, and old business were all read, further discussions involved upcoming board elections in March 2010, in which people in the audience were advised to consider running for, including President, for current President Ellen Merchant's 3 year term will be up. Future conferences were also briefly discussed, including next year's People First Annual conference set for Laramie, Wyoming, details waiting to be finalized.

The major topic of the meeting turned to the upcoming December 13, 2009 Christmas party to be held at Country Buffet in Cheyenne, Wyoming at the Frontier Mall. The audience was told that each one of them was responsible for bringing money for their meal ($13 plus a gift limited to $5 for exchanging, of which names were drawn at this meeting). Most of the people in attendance committed to showing up.

The People First of Wyoming Cheyenne Chapter meeting ended with a few more people continuing the discussion about how they came to live on their own (which began last month). It was also stressed that People First is about choices, and that it's perfectly acceptable to live with parents or in a group home as long as one is happy with that. Secretary Earl Leighan told the audience that he's been on his own for a remarkable 47 years, meaning his independent days go back to the Kennedy Administration.

For more information about People First of Wyoming, contact Tammy Gamino at 307-432-4033. The Cheyenne, Wyoming office is at 1623 Central Ave. in the Downtown Office Suites. The website is here.