EMPTY STOCKING: 3 plus 3 equals one busy mom

Talk about a choice.

Foster mom Nicole cared for three young children — saved from a drug addicted mother — and her three biological children when her husband walked out on her.

Adopt the three? A single mother caring for all six?

There was really only one decision for Nicole.

“To think of my life without them, I’d be heart-broken,” she said. “And if I didn’t keep them and do this for them, it would solidify in their minds no one wanted them.”

Nicole’s 19-year-old daughter stepped up, reminded her the family was a team, and offered to care for the children in exchange for room and board.

Nicole, meanwhile, works two jobs to make it all happen. On her “days off,” she gives her daughter a break to go stay with her boyfriend for a couple of days.

She was a foster mom licensed through the Griffith Centers for Children. But since the adoption of her three children was finalized in October, she mainly relies on Griffith for support.

“They help us with whatever we need,” she said.

Only her first name is being used to protect her privacy.

The Griffith Centers is one of 14 area charities receiving grants from The Gazette-El Pomar Foundation Empty Stocking Fund. The agency’s services include therapeutic and academic services to children and families in crisis. The Empty Stocking Fund grant last year helped provide foster care to 51 children from El Paso County.

Nicole said the adoption felt like a huge weight coming off her shoulders, with freedoms like being able to travel with the children without permission. She urges others to support foster care.

“Anyone can make a difference in a child’s life,” she said.

Nicole’s family is struggling like many this year. But she’s tried to impress upon the children that gifts most often come from the heart.

“Material stuff you can’t take with you,” she said. “But if you can change someone’s life, that’s huge.”

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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.