This is one of a series of stories about the 15 nonprofit agencies that receive money from The Gazette/El Pomar Foundation Empty Stocking campaign that runs through the holidays.
Medical issues forced Suzi Huette to retire early.
For 25 years she managed law firms and worked as a paralegal. Without that income, though, she had to sell her home. She moved from Colorado Springs to Monument and also sold other belongings to survive.
Tri-Lakes Cares was right next door to her new home, and when she received her social security for her disability, she knew she would need more help.
She decided to try Tri-Lakes Cares and she said that it has made such a difference.
“They’re lovely people,” Huette said. “I don’t know where I’d be without them.”
According to its website, Tri-Lakes Cares is a nonprofit that provides emergency assistance, self-sufficiency programs and other social services to northern El Paso County residents in need.
Tri-Lakes Cares provides Huette with gluten-free food, which she needs for her medical condition. It also has helped her pay for her eyeglasses, and helped her get into a program that assists with heating costs.
“I don’t use them unless I have to,” she said. “They’re a really great group of people.
“I have friends here but no family. I felt like I wasn’t going through this alone.”