When Susie’s granddaughter accidentally threw away the medicine that helps quiet the voices in the young teen’s head, Susie turned to Tri-Lakes Cares, just as she has for the past four years.

The northern El Paso County non-profit got the girl 30 pills for $14, a significant savings for the family of special needs teens being raised by their grandmother.

When the grandchildren came to her, her husband did not adjust well and the couple divorced, leaving Susie, 62, as the sole provider.

She went back to work, but the financial needs of three growing kids, all with emotional problems and severe asthma, keeps Susie on an extremely tight budget.

“I certainly don’t live the life that I was accustomed to before the kids came,” said Susie, whose real name is not being used to protect the family’s privacy.

With Tri-Lakes Cares, her grandchildren do not have to go without medication, nutritional food or new, clean clothes.

“The children have a chance to go to school and be as normal as the other children and they don’t realize they are poorer than someone else,” she said.

The non-profit provides an array of services to anyone who needs help, including a food bank, clothing vouchers, school supplies, medical care with discounted medication, legal assistance, rent and utility bill assistance. It is one of 15 area charities receiving grants from The Gazette-El Pomar Empty Stocking Fund.

“You can make a fruit basket out of the things they have,” Susie said. “To me, it helps a whole lot because the grapes that are $4 or $5 at the store are now free and my kids get the vitamins and benefits from them.”

At a recent Tri-Lakes Cares bowling day, one of Susie’s grandchildren won lunch for two at a Monument cafe. When Director Haley Chapin found out, she pulled him aside and traded him for a bowling party for 10 people. The child’s birthday was a week later and the family had a party worth $125 that would not have been possible otherwise.

“That’s just who they are,” Susie said. “They are always there. They won’t leave you.”

Palmer’s Chris Urbaniak, right, blocks out Doherty’s Ian Young during the first half Friday night. Photo by BRYAN OLLER, THE GAZETTE