They say there’s a silver lining in every cloud — and Barbara Johnson hopes to prove that’s true.
“I’m a cancer survivor,” she said. But while she was in Boise getting the necessary seven-and-a-half weeks of radiation treatments, which are daily but don’t take long, “I heard about someone who lived in Mountain Home and had to drive back and forth every day for their treatments. I said to my husband: this is wrong.”
Barbara was — and still is — hoping to spearhead an effort to give people in cancer treatment a sort of Ronald McDonald House for adults. She initially set out, more than a dozen years ago, pitching several what she thought would be simple solutions.
Now, after committing years to making her dream come true, to create a place of solace and camaraderie, of safety and shelter for adults coping with cancer and radiation and chemo treatments, Barbara said she sees that silver lining.
She created a nonprofit — Chasing Away the Clouds — and there have been a number of fundraising efforts and today, Barbara feels closer to her goal than ever. Recently, the nonprofit was able to get a green light from the Nampa Planning and Zoning Commission on a nine-bedroom, 10-bath house. “We’re now in escrow,” she said. “We have $43,000 in the bank … but we’re a couple hundred thousand dollars shy. We’re hoping people in the community will step up. We’re believers in God and we believe in God’s work.”
