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 at Westside CARES and part-time at Northern Churches Care. Other community nurses have similar commitments at other agencies.

This conveys "the strong spirit of cooperation and sharing that marks many of the Empty Stocking agencies," said Westside CARES executive director Steve Brown. "We are working together and avoiding the duplication of services. It is also significant that Penrose-St. Francis places these nurses in the community while carrying the cost themselves."

Westside CARES is an emergency community resource that helps with rent assistance, utilities, Goodwill vouchers, bus tokens and other needs. Anderson is there because so many seeking help also have medical needs.

"The biggest group," she said, "is people who have trouble paying for a prescription. They have chronic conditions: diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma. ... Many of them are very aware of what they need to do: ‘I need to take my medication, I need to monitor my blood sugar, but I can't afford to do it.' They try to stretch their medication by not taking it as often, trying to stretch it out. They're trying to do the best they can, knowing there's no money to buy more when they run out."

Some of those she sees are new here or maybe they got laid off. She searches out resources for those with serious mental health problems and for a needy neighbor who's suffering with a tooth that needs to be pulled. She'll try to find help for someone who needs glasses or dentures and another who must find a wheelchair.

The people she has the most difficult time helping are those who need pain management. "It's hard for providers to understand the best way to help, so many agencies don't help them. Mental health is another unmet need. I feel many doctors don't feel as comfortable dealing with these - bipolar, OCD, depression - and it's much harder finding resources," she said.

Anderson said the statistics show the nurses at the sites are stretching budgets to serve more people. "I have a budget for each site and every month there are more people I could help than I have a budget for," she said.

Westside CARES has broad boundaries. "If you're on the west side of I-25, come right in," Anderson said. "We serve from south of the Air Force Academy, south to near Pikes Peak Community College. We go west to Crystola." Many of those they serve are their closest neighbors in Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs.

Looking to the future there's a dream of a larger, more accessible facility. "We're in the basement of Bethany Baptist Church so accessibility is an issue," she said. "There's a buzzer at the top of the stairs and we go upstairs to work with people who can't come down."

The need for the community nurse program is expanding, Anderson said. "We have a nurse at Ecumenical Social Ministries downtown, a nurse in the Monument area and a new nurse at Life Support Center. We want to continue this connection to the community. We want to find ways to expand because there are more people who need help, more people than we can help," she said.