Shortly after Leylie Aghevli and her fiance Christopher Lange moved to Colorado Springs from New Mexico for her job three and a half years ago, Lange woke up vomiting blood.

He landed in the hospital, the first of dozens of visits for a worsening case of pancreatitis. This year, Lange has been hospitalized 30 times.

Since the timing and duration of his hospital stays are unpredictable, Lange has been unable to work, leaving the couple financially vulnerable.

“He’ll be fine for six weeks or even five months and then he’s out for 10 days or month,” Aghevli said. “It is just out of the blue and most employers kind of frown on that.”

Despite Aghevli’s steady paycheck and some creative budgeting, medical bills have twice this year gotten the best of them. Though she was apprehensive about asking for help, Aghevli turned to Westside Cares for assistance with monthly bills.

Partnering with various businesses and agencies, the non-profit provides emergency financial assistance to residents on the westside of El Paso County. Westside Cares is one of 15 area charities receiving grants from The Gazette-El Pomar Empty Stocking Fund.

In June, the agency paid  $300 of Aghevli’s $305 utility bill. Last month, Westside Cares helped with rent.

“I’m not one to ask for help. I wasn’t sure how it would work,” she said. “They were so unbelievably nice. There was no judgement, they just kind of listened to what I had to say.”

Less than 10 percent of Westside Cares’ clientele are homeless. Most of those seeking help are much like Aghevli and Lange: doing everything they can do to stay afloat but occasionally coming up short.

“I can’t say anything good enough about how wonderful they’ve been and how wonderful they are,” Aghevli said. “I would love at some point to be on the other end of that and be able to donate because, man, they have saved our bacon.”

Terry Sullivan posed last month with a life-size cardboard cutout of himself that showed up at his retirement party and was the source of many photos. Sullivan, CEO of Experience Colorado Springs, is retiring after 20 years with the visitors and convention bureau. Photo by JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE