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 premature, weighing just 1 pound.

An incubator mishap left her visually impaired, and she has an enlarged heart and underdeveloped lungs that contributed to bouts with pneumonia when she gave birth to her two daughters. She's also had West Nile virus that resulted from a mosquito bite at an art show.

"They told me at one point that a nurse at the hospital where I was born in Greeley had made a death certificate for me, but I came back to life and survived," Sylvia said. Only her first name is being used for this article to protect her privacy. "I was in 17 foster homes, including one for handicapped children. I was really messed up and depressed before I came here. Peak Vista has helped me tremendously."

Sylvia took up art as an escape, but her paintings require great effort because she must work just 3 inches from the canvas to see what she is creating. She often donates her paintings to raise money to help offset medical bills for premature babies.

Peak Vista is one of 14 charities receiving grants from The Gazette-El Pomar Empty Stocking Fund. The 37-year-old nonprofit organization is the largest provider of primary medical and dental care for low-income, uninsured working families in the Pikes Peak Region through its 12 clinics in El Paso and Teller counties. The organization also offers pharmacy and laboratory services and a 24-hour nurse triage service.

Sylvia has been using Peak Vista's Divide clinic for 2½ years and plans to continue as a patient there because she has no other access to health care.

"I have to keep fighting my health to do my paintings," Sylvia said. Peak Vista "has just helped me tremendously to do that."