EMPTY STOCKING: From heroin to happy family
When Amber and Marc’s daughter was born hooked on heroin, the courts stepped in and placed the girl in foster care.
Both Amber and Marc were addicted to drugs, and they had to get clean and stay clean if they wanted to get their daughter back. They entered a drug rehabilitation program.
Amber got a job as a waitress, and Marc applied for disability; Marc said he suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome, depression and anxiety. They joined a church and attended its group meetings, including a Bible study program.
The courts granted Amber and Marc custody of their daughter a year ago, when she was 2 years old. Only their first names are being used to protect their privacy.
Amber, 27, and Marc, 45, soon got pregnant with their second child, a son, who was born with a cranial abnormality — he had no soft spot. The boy had to have surgery to reconstruct his skull.
Amber said she and Marc have learned from all they’ve been through as a family: their drug addictions and overcoming them, losing their daughter and getting her back, and their son’s surgery.
“We don’t fight or raise our voices with each other,” she said. “We talk out our disagreements, and we love our children every day.”
During the past year, Amber had to undergo three surgeries after a complication with her emergency Caesarian section. She hopes to return to her waitressing job.
The family of five — Amber also has a 7-year-old daughter from a previous relationship — currently survives on Marc’s $637 monthly disability check, low-income housing, and food stamps.
They also attribute their survival to Catholic Charities of Colorado Springs, which runs the soup kitchen and offers emergency and transition services to people in need. The agency runs the Marian House Soup Kitchen, where Marc and Amber and their children have eaten lunch every day for the past year and a half.
“We come to the soup kitchen because we know we will get a nutritious meal and the money we save helps us make ends meet,” Amber said. “Catholic Charities allows us to breathe.”
Catholic Charities is one of 14 area charities receiving grants from The Gazette-El Pomar Foundation Empty Stocking Fund. The agency serves more than 600 meals a day through the soup kitchen.
Through the Marian House Life Support Center and the Marian House Clothing Closet, Amber and Marc’s family have received diapers, baby formula, children’s clothing and adult coats.
“They’ve been very, very compassionate and wonderful people,” Marc said.
Amber said with the help of Catholic Charities, the family has hope for the future.
“When we got clean, we stopped socializing; we just had each other and my sister,” Amber said. “Now, we have friends, and the kids do play dates. We are not rich, but we have what we need, and we have a future.”
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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.
