EMPTY STOCKING: Job and health woes leave neighbor in need
The combination of being laid off and falling ill left Gordon unable to pay his rent.
Soon after losing his job as a motel clerk, where he worked in exchange for a free room to live in, he had bouts of extreme fatigue and shortness of breath.
He made a doctor’s appointment and was hospitalized for three days because of blood clots in his leg and lungs. He was also diagnosed with sleep apnea, a sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts.
“Everything caved in at once,” Gordon said.
Only his first name is being used to protect his privacy.
He was put on oxygen 24 hours a day and blood thinners, in hopes of preventing additional clotting. He’s been unable to work because of his medical condition and continues to have extreme fatigue and shortness of breath. Tests are still being done to determine what is causing the condition.
Gordon, 65, is retired and receiving $580 a month from Social Security after $100 is taken out for Medicare, which covered the majority of his medical bills.
After losing his job at the motel, he had to find a new place to live, which brought the extra expense of rent. Gordon found a place for $400 a month, but he wasn’t able to afford the first month’s rent.
Gordon, who had a steady job before the motel, had never been in this situation before.
“I was pretty desperate and didn’t know what I was going to do,” he said. “At my age, it was embarrassing to realize I was at this point.”
Gordon turned to Westside CARES, which offers assistance to residents in west and southwest Colorado Springs from Rockrimmon to Stratmoor Valley to Green Mountain Falls.
The agency paid $300 toward his $400 rent. Gordon dealt with Carol Keenan, who handles rent assistance.
“She was just incredible. She didn’t make me feel bad and was very compassionate,” Gordon said. “I really didn’t expect much help, but I left in a state of euphoria.”
Westside CARES is one of 14 area charities receiving grants from The Gazette-El Pomar Foundation Empty Stocking Fund. The agency, which prefers to call its clients “neighbors,” fed about 18,300 people through its food pantry and helped nearly 5,000 households in 2008. The agency also helps people with prescription drugs, eye exams and eyeglasses.
Gordon said he didn’t ask for any more help from Westside CARES, but it’s reassuring to know it’s there.
“They were so incredible,” he said. “I was hopeless one minute and saved the next. And they didn’t make me feel like I was just a number.”
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To make a secure online donation, go to www.fillanemptystocking.org. Call 476-1673 to make a credit card or stock donation over the phone. Checks can be made payable to the Empty Stocking Fund and mailed to P.O. Box 400, Colorado Springs, CO 80901.
