This post was written by Sarah McAfee, a former member of our team.
In high school, I was voted Most Likely to Be Rich. So far at least, it’s a prediction about as accurate as most of my horoscopes. If that was ever really the goal though, I wouldn’t have picked a career path in the nonprofit sector, where my chances of achieving great wealth are slim. Relatives have reminded me of this many times over the years, with subtle hints like emailed job postings for Fortune 500 companies that I’m neither qualified for nor interested in, but have impressive starting salaries.
It seems to me that the nonprofit sector really needs a new publicist. “Profit” is a loaded word: it means a financial gain, an advantage, a benefit. In fact, if you take it back to its Latin roots (thanks, high school Latin classes!) it means, “to do on behalf of.” Action on behalf of others is the definition of nonprofit work, which would mean that there isn’t much that’s more nonprofit-like than profit itself. The nonprofit sector and its work profits us all.
At CCMU, we pursue our work in the same way: we work on behalf of the medically underserved, to the benefit of all. We believe Colorado is better when all Coloradans have access to the health care services they need to lead healthy and fulfilling lives. By improving the health care system so that it works better for our most vulnerable Coloradans, we are actually ensuring lower costs, better quality, and increased access for everyone.
It’s a team effort—we work in collaboration with countless individuals and organizations as committed to this shared vision as we are. We are also supported by over one hundred donors and members who see an investment in CCMU as an investment in Colorado’s future. With all that’s ahead of us this year and beyond, we hope to see even more of our friends and partners join us as members and donors, enabling us to seize more opportunities to make an impact. And speaking of impact, we also hope you’ll join us at our annual meeting and breakfast on May 20, where we’ll report on our current activities and community impact, and share our findings from the first six months of our Health is Local project.
Virgil, the great Roman poet, once wrote, “The greatest wealth is health,” so maybe my high school peers’ prediction wasn’t really that far off—but it’s much bigger than just me. It’s certainly no get-rich-quick scheme, but working to improve health and health care in Colorado profits us all, and we’ll be a richer, more vibrant community because of it.
