United Way of Larimer County

Needing help is only one misstep away
Fort Collins Coloradoan
April 29, 2003
By Scott A. Laws

In 1995, I broke my back, leaving me permanently injured so that I could not go back to work. My whole work experience in life was with jobs that were physical in nature, jobs I could no longer do.

My doctor told me that in a couple of years I could physically maintain a desk job. Bills were due and we eventually lost our home and were forced to temporarily move in with a friend.

That's when my wife found Neighbor to Neighbor, a nonprofit transitional housing agency supported by the United Way. It agreed to help us find a place to live and to hear about our other problems.

Neighbor to Neighbor recommended another nonprofit affiliated with United Way, the Education and Life Training Center, or ELTC. There I attended a computer class at a reduced rate.

I was nervous, but soon the instructor had us learning MS-Word and basic DOS commands. He was one of the most competent instructors I have ever had. This class gave me the confidence to enroll at Front Range Community College.

When I was almost done with my degree in accounting, my back problems were diagnosed as much more serious than I was led to believe, which explained the constant pain and numbness. I left FRCC with a degree in accounting and was placed on disability.

In 1999, we took the first-time homebuyers class through Neighbor to Neighbor, and in time were back in our own home.

Something still did not seem right. I was not brought up to take handouts or cry about the hand God has dealt me. Yet for the past four to five years there had been United Way and its affiliated nonprofits to feed, house and educate us.

All of these nonprofits are there for the betterment of our community and all of them are supported by United Way. I had taken from all of them hearing nothing but encouragement and without ever being asked to repay them.

We might not be able to pay them back with money but we can support them in other ways, such as public speaking and volunteering.

Trisha Flynn and Rusty Collins of Neighbor to Neighbor were so impressed by one of my html projects for class they let me build them a practice Web site. Rusty liked it so much that he posted it on the Internet. It is now at www.N2N.org

Although these organizations helped me in troubled times, they are not only there for the bad times. My children go to the Boys & Girls Club of Larimer County, where they take art classes, go on trips, play basketball, learn job responsibility and are tutored.

A lot of people are one accident away from needing the services of the numerous United Way-supported agencies. I implore you to support the United Way and its affiliated agencies in any way you can.

Remember — you or your children may be one misstep away from needing United Way.

Scott A. Laws lives in Fort Collins.

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