Tag: esf
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EMPTY STOCKING FUND: Charity helps artist help others
Sylvia credits Dr. Christine Jensen-Fox at the Peak Vista Community Health Centers clinic in Divide for “helping me feel like a person again” as she recovered from a cold that turned into near-fatal double pneumonia with a blood clot.The 51-year-old artist has a host of medical problems that stem from her being born four months…
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EMPTY STOCKING FUND: Southeast YMCA caters to military families
LaTasha and her family have lived in a handful of cities as her husband relocated with the military, but Colorado Springs offers something the other cities didn’t, as far she knows. That’s a YMCA that tailors to military families, offering reduced rates that encourage families to use the facility. LaTasha, her husband and their three…
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EMPTY STOCKING FUND: Agency helps in a tight job market
When Betty moved back to Colorado Springs earlier this year with her family, the job her husband thought he had lined up fell through. “My husband has been looking for work like crazy. He’s even had trouble at McDonald’s and other fast food restaurants – they’re not hiring,” she said. The family, with two children,…
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EMPTY STOCKING FUND: Red Cross stepped in after house fire
Laura was at work when she got an urgent phone call from her teenage son: The house was on fire. She told him to get out and call 911, then hurried home. Flames were shooting from the roof. “It had done a lot of damage by the time my son noticed the fire,” Laura said.…
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EMPTY STOCKING FUND: ‘We’re the silent homeless’
Annie fell apart when her husband of 10 years left and she ended up living on the streets for much of the past year. “It was a total surprise when he left, and I lost it,” she said. They were behind on rent when he left, so Annie was evicted within a few weeks and…
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EMPTY STOCKING FUND: Counseling revealed the adverse effects of meth
Patty spent more than a decade hooked on methamphetamine until her family finally helped her see how much she needed help – and she got it. Her biggest inspiration was her sister, who had also been hooked on meth but had been clean for a few years. Patty, a single mother of five children, ended…
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EMPTY STOCKING FUND: Charity helps woman make rent
Pam’s landlord called her in the hospital, where she spent several weeks recovering from surgery for pancreatic cancer, to tell her she and her teenage son had to be out of their apartment in four days because rent was late. “She said, ‘I understand you have cancer, but cancer has nothing to do with rent,’”…
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EMPTY STOCKING FUND: Silver Key takes care of overdue utility bills
After Diane fell ill, she lost her job, and she and her husband, who was recovering from surgery, couldn’t pay their utility bills. As the bills piled up, she’d call Colorado Springs Utilities crying and beg them not to disconnect their power and water. They were several months behind and owed about $1,000. She tried…
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EMPTY STOCKING FUND: Urban peak offers more than shelter
Karl’s life has been a string of drugs, alcohol and breaking the law since his mother died when he was 10 years old. “She was everything to me,” he said. “I was a mama’s boy, and I wanted what I wanted, and I started getting in trouble.” By 13, he was drinking alcohol and smoking…
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Gazette, El Pomar launch fundraising campaign
The homeless teen trying to recover from a drug addiction. The single mom struggling to raise her four children on a low income. An elderly woman on a fixed income who can’t pay her utilities bill. They all need help. That’s where The Gazette-El Pomar Foundation Empty Stocking Fund comes in. This year’s campaign hopes…