Tribute to a Friend
Kathy Cheatham
1964 - 2024
July 16, 2024
What better way to pay tribute to a friend than to share a little of her life through today’s blog. Kathy Cheatham is someone who will always inspire me. She passed away on June 26 and I attended her funeral a week later. Family members and coworkers shared stories and memories of how she had inspired their lives as well. This is how I came to know Kathy.
I read an article on the front page of the Topeka Capital-Journal in 2014 regarding the closing of a valuable service at Breakthrough House due to financial cutbacks. This nonprofit supports the recovery of people with mental illness. I was in training to run the Los Angeles Marathon and I decided to raise funds as a part of my marathon effort. Kathy worked at Breakthrough House, and we became acquainted as I connected with the office.
After the marathon, I returned to Washburn University to take some English classes. I was given an assignment to interview a friend and my choice was Kathy Cheatham. When I went for the interview, Kathy handed me a pamphlet entitled “Social Security: A Guide for Representative Payees.” Kathy was the representative payee for more than 160 clients who received monthly Social Security benefits and needed assistance managing their money. She helped them set up a budget and set aside money for savings. She paid their bills, balanced their checkbook and provided them with a weekly check for their living expenses. In addition, she helped them with problems with their insurance, medical and dental needs, or helped troubleshooting other financial problems.
She had been instrumental in seeing people find a place to live. Kathy told me the story of a client who had been homeless. She said he told her he had been living on the dirt forever. “Now,” he told her, “I finally have a roof over my head.”
Kathy worked with programs to assist clients with utility bills. She was also on the Homeless Task Force committee and went to their monthly meetings. For several years, she volunteered for the day that Topeka does a homeless count.
She described a typical workday. She started her morning by writing checks for her clients’ weekly spending money. They all had a certain day they came in. She saw clients from 9 to 2 and 1 to 4 each day. It may be that they needed to see her because they had a crisis or just needed someone to talk to. She said a majority of her clients didn’t have family to turn to.
She said what was important to her was “to be a good listener and treat each person as a person, understanding they have an illness. However, they are still a human being and they want to fit into society.”
I asked Kathy what helped her most with her job in terms of education and previous work experience. She laughed and stated she grew up on a park bench. Her dad was Ted Ensley who directed the Shawnee County Parks and Recreation Department for 31 years. Because of her dad’s profession, she was always around people and enjoyed working with people. “So that’s what I got my degree in—communication.”
Kathy had to leave her office to address a client’s need. That gave me the opportunity to look at the signs on her oQice walls. One stated: “Mental Health Matters Every Day.” Another read: “Go Confidently in the Direction of Your Dreams.” When she returned, she asked if I had noticed the picture on her bookshelf. She explained that one of her clients who came in often just to get a hug gave her that picture of her as a little girl. “The thing is— I open my arms to every one of them. When you have compassion for others, it will come back tenfold. That’s how I feel.”
These phrases from the oft- quoted passage in Proverbs 31 are a fitting conclusion to this tribute.
She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. She is clothed with strength and dignity.
She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.
I will continue to feel Kathy’s presence and be inspired by her life.
