EMPTY STOCKING: Salvation Army helps man stay sober

Nichole Russell’s move to Colorado Springs was a true leap of faith.

Last year she and her husband, a recovering alcoholic, relocated from Lincoln, Neb., after what they considered to be a divine nudge.

Old haunts and acquaintances were making staying sober difficult for Russell’s husband.

“We feel like God spoke to us, and we decided to make the move,” Russell said. “God must have really been with us, because we had nothing. We left with a few clothes and a bag — no money.

“We just came.”

At the Colorado Springs Greyhound station, Russell and her husband were referred to the Salvation Army, one of 15 area charities receiving grants from The Gazette/El Pomar Empty Stocking Fund.

They walked to the organization’s shelter, the R.J. Montgomery Center, and were immediately welcomed.

Thanks in part to the Salvation Army, Russell and her husband were able to secure stable jobs, a vehicle and decent housing, a combination that allowed them to move their four children to the Springs as well.

“They’ve helped us out of nowhere with gas,” Russell said. “They helped pay our rent twice. They helped us get budgeting assistance. I can go on and on.”

When a temporary setback landed the family back at the shelter, the organization provided the Russell children with after-school care, clothing vouchers, snacks and homework assistance.

“It was perfect for our kids,” Russell said.

Russell’s husband remains sober, an achievement that she partially credits to the Salvation Army.

Without the organization, Russell fears that her family might have ended up homeless in the Springs or back in Lincoln.

“I don’t know if we would have made it at all without their support,” she said. “Their message of God and love and neighborliness — it’s part of the reason he’s still sober.”