Tag: esf
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Pair of $100,000 contributions added to Empty Stocking Fund
Sometimes lightning does strike twice. Last week, the Empty Stocking Fund announced it had received a $100,000 donation from the Myron Stratton Home. On Tuesday the 25-year-old holiday fund – a joint project of Gazette Charities, El Pomar Foundation and the Bruni Foundation that benefits 14 local charities – received a $100,000 donation from an…
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EMPTY STOCKING FUND: Charity lends a hand to mom of 3
Making $7 an hour at her bakery job, Zahkila was barely pulling in enough to pay her $700 rent and support her three children. She was $100 short on rent one month, served an eviction notice and fined $100 in late fees. She didn’t have the $200 to give her landlord. “It’s hard when you’re…
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EMPTY STOCKING FUND: Catholic charities helps keep heat on
An apparent mix-up with Colorado Springs Utilities left Shannon and her three children without power for two days.Shannon, 26, and a friend had gone to Utilities to pay her bill in cash, but the company didn’t have a record of her paying it and cut her power, she said. Shannon couldn’t find the receipt to…
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EMPTY STOCKING FUND: Mom gets much-needed help from charity to pay rent
Toni broke her hand in November, and it’s put her out of work from her three jobs for at least a month. The single mom of three children – 10 months, 8 and 12 – knew she’d be short on rent for December. Only her first name is being used to protect her privacy. “I…
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EMPTY STOCKING FUND: Single mom gets a lift after flames devour home
It was about 6 a.m. on a Saturday when Heather took a quick shower before heading to work. When she came out of the bathroom, she smelled something terribly wrong. “My kitchen and laundry room were up in flames,” she said. She made a quick attempt to put out the fire, then escaped her upstairs…
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EMPTY STOCKING FUND: Westside CARES helps neighbors in tough times
They’re not clients. They’re not patients. The people pastoral nurse Linda Anderson ministers to are “our neighbors.” “At Westside CARES we are helping neighbors in need,” she said. Westside CARES is one of 14 agencies receiving money from The Gazette-El Pomar Foundation Empty Stocking Fund. Anderson is an employee of Penrose-St. Francis Healthcare, working part-time…
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EMPTY STOCKING FUND: Fire hit twice, and Red Cross was there
Lightning, it’s said, never strikes twice in the same place. Sometimes fires do, at least to the same people. For the second Christmas in a row the Stahl family is starting from scratch. In January 2007 they escaped the inferno when the Castle West Apartments went up in flames. Lacey Stahl and her husband, Joe,…
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EMPTY STOCKING FUND: Urban Peak a haven for troubled youth in area
Jaclyn’s arms, thighs and lower torso are covered with the scars of her pain. After her stepfather starting molesting her, Jaclyn repeatedly took a razor to her skin, replacing the emotional pain with physical pain. Eventually her self-destruction landed her in Cedar Springs Behavioral Health Systems facility, where her secret was uncovered. But her struggles…
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EMPTY STOCKING FUND: Silver Key is a ‘godsend’ for senior living by herself
Emma Thayer doesn’t think she could live on her own if it weren’t for Silver Key Senior Services. The 89-year-old is agile mentally, but after a car accident eight years ago her physical agility is limited. “Believe me, they’re a godsend,” Thayer said. “They’re my guardian angel. If it wasn’t for them, I couldn’t stay…
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EMPTY STOCKING FUND: ‘Good care’ a big help for widowed mother
Jodie went to Peak Vista Community Health Centers last spring because she had health problems and no health insurance. The 49-year-old widowed mother of seven was surprised by what she found at the clinics serving the uninsured and underinsured. It’s not “low-income care,” she said. “It’s good care.” Peak Vista is one of 14 agencies…