Gill Foundation to refocus Gay and Lesbian Fund, close Colo. Springs office

UPDATE: This article has been updated from its original version to clarify Makepeace’s roll in the decision to re-evaluate The Gay and Lesbian Fund for Colorado and close its Colorado Springs office. For more details about the revision click here.

Mary Lou Makepeace, vice president of The Gay and Lesbian Fund for Colorado, thought she and her staff were doing a good job. And by all accounts they were.

The Fund, a program of Denver-based Gill Foundation, had, since 1996, given away more than $27.6 million to nonprofits across the state.

$2.7 million in 2010.

Money went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. The Pueblo Symphony Orchestra. Colorado Public Radio. The Fund’s goals were two fold, give back and normalize the words gay and lesbian. Or, more specifically: show Coloradans gays and lesbians share common values and interests.

That was 15 years ago.

“During this period, Colorado has become a much more inclusive and welcoming state while the economy and needs of Colorado have changed,” said the Foundation’s executive director Tim Sweeney.

So, the decision was made to re-evaluate the Fund’s role and where it spends money.

Makepeace was shocked when she learned the Colorado Springs operation would be shuttered and consolidated in the Denver office.

“We’ve been a proud presence in Colorado Springs,” she said. “People like having us here, our building here. It’s a touchstone.”

The Fund’s building, with signage, is located in downtown Colorado Springs. Dozens of nonprofits have used the free space for meetings and support groups, even yoga.

As a result of closing shop in Colorado Springs, nine people will lose their jobs and two interim positions will be created within the Foundation’s Denver office during the re-evaluation process, Sweeney said.

All 2011 grantees will be automatically renewed in 2012 and no other portion or program of the Foundation will be altered or changed, Sweeney said. And no decisions have been made on what to do with the building, which the Foundation owns.

About $1 million will be saved in 2012 with these changes.

While Sweeney wouldn’t out-right say which direction the Fund would go, he did hint that there might be a shift from funding art and culture to bigger social concerns.

“The state has changed,” Sweeney said. “And this feels like a very good time to ask how to make the best Colorado.”

There’s still work to be done in Colorado Springs, Sweeney said. But with Don’t Ask Don’t Tell being repealed and a 2010 poll showing 50 percent of El Paso County residents supporting same-sex relationship recognition, it was easier to make the decision to exit the southern Colorado metropolitan.

“We’re looking for different strategies to get the same end,” Sweeney said. “Our Foundation is dynamic, and constantly evolving and changing.”

Despite leaving, Sweeney said the Foundation and Fund will continue to have a strong presence in Colorado Springs. Moneys will continue to support the region including the Inside/Out LGBT youth program and the Colorado AIDS Project’s office there. The Foundation also supports One Colorado, a statewide LGBT advocacy organization, which has a field office there.

But Sweeney pointed out Colorado Springs isn’t the only city where work has to be done.

“We also have Greeley, Grand Junction,” he said. “We have to ask ourselves, is there another way to spend that money?”

Makepeace has faith the Colorado Springs LGBT community won’t lose ground.

“There will be other voices that stand up,” she said. “We’ve developed so many allies and organizations to stand up for LGBT equality. My hope and belief is that won’t change.”

Charles Irwin, the executive director of the Colorado Springs Pride Center, agrees and said his own organization is constantly re-evaluating how to best serve the Pike’s Peaks LGBT community.

“Our job is to fight for civil and social equality,” he said. “I think that is becoming more defined. And I don’t think [the Fund leaving] will stop any of us from doing that.”

This article has been corrected to reflect the correct spelling of Tim Sweeney’s last name and the proper name of the Gay and Lesbian Fund for Colorado. It has also been corrected to the reflect the year the Fund was founded. Additional revisions clarify Mary Lou Makepeace was aware of the decision to re-evaluate the Fund, but was later informed of the Gill Foundation’s board of directors to close the Colorado Springs office.