Local charity helps with woman's health care needs

Nancy is struggling on a fixed income of $230 a month while she tries to get disability payments.

"When I have to pay car insurance and utilities, it doesn't leave anything," she said.

She often has trouble paying for the dozen different medications she's on for conditions including bipolar disorder, high blood pressure and emphysema.

She 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 picked up the tab for several of her doctor visits and prescriptions.

"I have been so blessed through them. I don't know what I would've done without them," Nancy said. "They're just awesome people."

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

Westside CARES is one of 14 area charities receiving grants from The Gazette-El Pomar Empty Stocking Fund. The agency also helps pay for prescription drugs, eye exams and eyeglasses.

Westside CARES, which prefers to call its clients "neighbors," fed about 14,000 people in 2007 through its food pantry.

The nurse who's stationed at Westside CARES — her position is funded by Penrose-St. Francis Health Systems — allows the agency to help people with medical issues.

"I love her to death," Nancy said. "Right now, she's trying to help me get new dentures. I'm having trouble chewing food, which is causing other medical problems."

Nancy, 52, also has gotten coats, shirts, nightgowns and other clothing through Westside CARES' voucher program. She used a voucher this Halloween for her 3-year-old grandson so he could dress up as a dragon.

"Christmas is coming up, and I know they do stocking things, so I'm going to put in for something for my grandson because I have nothing to give him," Nancy said.

Westside CARES has done so much more than helping her financially, she said.

"They pray with me, help me keep my spirits up, just lift me up. They make you feel that you're part of the family instead of making you feel like you're a burden," she said. "There isn't anything they wouldn't try to help you with."