This is one of a series of stories about the nonprofit agencies that receive money from The Gazette/El Pomar Foundation Empty Stocking Fund campaign that runs through the holidays.

Frank Hill, 56, is having dental surgery thanks to Ecumenical Social Ministries, which cobbled together services from various sources around Colorado to help pay for it.

It’s not that Hill doesn’t have dental insurance, he said, but it didn’t nearly cover it all. He is unemployed and receives disability income.

“I’m a middle-class man, but medical problems took all my money. It’s made me a poor man,” Hill said.

In the past Hill said he had good jobs, such as writing mortgages for a bank and working for an addiction counseling service in prisons. As a Cheyenne, he has been a Native American liaison to federal prisons, making sure prisoners received the spiritual guidance they are afforded under law.

“ESM has helped me get back on track with everything from medical help to food help to even the shoes I’m wearing,” Hill said.

Once they helped him with his rent.

Ecumenical Social Ministries works to keep clients from becoming homeless and jobless, helping obtain medical and mental health services, job skills training, rental and utilities assistance, emergency food and clothing.

Hill’s medical problems began years ago, when he lost his arm in a traffic accident caused by a drunk driver. He has overcome kidney cancer, and his liver disease and diabetes are now under control. He has medical insurance, but ESM has helped with excess costs, including bills after a hospital stay two years ago.

Hill said he hopes to get a full time job soon. With dental surgery behind him, ESM will help with referrals.

Most important, he said, “They have helped me grow spiritually through their helpful actions.”