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| Affiliation | Democratic |
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| Name | Cheryl Hudspeth |
| Address | 610 N. Carbon St.
Girard, Kansas 66743, United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | http://hudspeth2010.com/ |
| Born |
Unknown
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| Contributor | RBH |
| Last Modifed | RBH
Feb 22, 2016 05:08pm |
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| Info | Like many Kansans, Cheryl Hudspeth is descended from Irish and German immigrants who settled in the towns along the Erie Canal in New York State. Following WWII her father, a Navy veteran, started his college education, married and started a family. His career path led the family across the country and back again to the mountains of New York.
In exploring her family’s history, Cheryl is reminded that immigrants come to America to escape oppression, to have a voice in governance, to seek opportunity and build a future for their family. These goals still drive the American people.
Cheryl has worked in a variety of occupations whose goal is to help people build a better life for themselves. While some of her work has been in helping those who cannot help themselves, her highest achievements have been in the creation and delivery of services that empower people to help themselves. Cheryl believes that positive change occurs through inclusion and empowerment.
Cheryl is a life-long Democrat. She first became politically active during the early 1970’s. “It was such an unsettled period in our country’s history,” she stated. “It gave me a healthy distrust of authority, while compelling me to get involved and change the status quo.” The anti-war movement, civil rights and the women’s movement all have a continuing influence on her political views.
In the mid 1970’s Cheryl moved to California. There she became active in an association of landowners who embarked on a ten-year campaign to change state and local laws governing the rights of property owners. That campaign involved crafting legislation and educating both elected officials and property owners on minimum standards to ensure health and safety.
During this period Cheryl worked in a law office as a paralegal assisting tenants and crafting countywide regulations governing property standards and tenant rights.
From there she went to work for a local agency to develop a self-help homeownership program. She helped families move from tenant to homeowner by teaching financial literacy, loan readiness, group governance, conflict resolution and construction skills. The result was a block of new homes occupied by families who, through their individual and combined skills and efforts, created their American dream.
Cheryl’s next assignment was in the development and management of affordable rental housing for seniors, people with chronic disabilities and families with children. “Building affordable housing that meets local values and needs requires years of reconciling conflicting regulations and financing requirements,” Hudspeth stated. “I worked closely with all agencies, private contractors and our elected representatives to craft programs that reflect local values.”
As Executive Director of a community agency that provides emergency relief, Cheryl worked to stabilize resources for a network of community agencies, volunteers and churches. “When we joined together, instead of competing against each other, the pool of resources increased. We all became stronger.”
Cheryl witnessed people moving from one crisis to another and recognized that the community needed new tools for people to lift themselves up. Working locally and with women from across the country, she embarked on a six-month planning process that resulted in the creation of the Women’s Economic Self-Sufficiency Training Company or WEST Company. This entrepreneurship program focuses on business creation and development through education and micro lending. With input from hundreds of women a ten-year business plan was created. The project raised over $600,000 of private money during the first four years of operation. No public funds were used in the development or initial operation of the project.
Later, Cheryl worked as a loan officer at a regional bank, where she continued her work in home ownership education, public planning and building public/private partnerships. Her efforts resulted in the bank receiving the highest possible Community Reinvestment Act compliance rating for its mortgage-lending activities.
Though never seeking elected office, Cheryl has worked as a volunteer on numerous political campaigns and local initiatives.
Having established a solid career in the development of rural projects, Cheryl turned her attention to the mitigation of troubled urban projects.
Her work in the communities of Richmond and Oakland, CA, included identification of misappropriated federal funds, resolution of litigation in public/private investment projects, debt reduction and financial restructuring, and the enforcement of publically funded contracts. Her work has resulted in the financial solvency of hundreds of units of affordable housing, correction of health and safety issues, staff and management reorganization, increased valuation of properties, and stronger communities.
Cheryl moved to Wichita, Kansas in 1998 after meeting her husband Tom, a technology consultant. Like Cheryl, Tom grew-up moving around the country, from one military base to the next. Tom’s father retired from the Army, a decorated Vietnam era war hero. Both of Tom’s parents are native Kansans.
In Wichita, Cheryl worked to create the first self-help housing program to break ground in Kansas. More importantly, this project utilized a public/private lending model that decreased the level of government funding. Building on this concept, Cheryl then expanded this model to existing homes and developed a pilot program that created a path to home ownership for low-income people with chronic disabilities. These efforts lead to her recognition by USDA Rural Development, for building one of the largest partnership lending programs in the nation.
Cheryl later worked for a national bank and as a private consultant. Cheryl’s work has resulted in millions of dollars of community investment.
In 2005, Cheryl and Tom moved to Girard, seeking better schools for their children. In 2006, Tom suffered a disabling accident and Cheryl turned her attention to caring for her family. Tom has made remarkable progress in his recovery during the last few years. With one child in college and one nearing high school graduating, Cheryl is ready to renew her work in public service.
Cheryl’s education path has been non-traditional. She has attended several colleges, universities and professional institutions studying a broad range of subjects including civil law, real estate, insurance, ethics, business management and public policy development.
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