Congratulations Dawn Marie!

One of the highlights of our recent Imagine! Celebration Dinner and Auction was the honoring of Dawn Marie Candaleria-Bisgard as Imagine!’s 2010 Consumer of the Year. Check out the video below to see why she was so deserving of this honor.

Celebrating 10 Years!

The Imagine! Foundation supports Imagine! through fundraising and education. In ten years, more than $4 million has been raised by the Foundation to provide extensive support for more than 2,600 people with developmental disabilities (and their families), primarily in Boulder and Broomfield Counties. Check out the video below celebrating those successes.

Thanks To Our Celebration Sponsors

Thanks to our sponsors, more than 200 in-kind donors, and the generous support of the community for their support individuals with developmental disabilities and their families living in Boulder and Broomfield counties at our 10th Annual Celebration Dinner and Auction, held Friday, January 28, 2011.

We'll give you more details from the event soon, but for now, please take a look at our sponsors below.

SmartHome Residents Testing Technology To Assist In Employing Those With Disabilities

The proceeds from the Special Appeal at Friday night’s Imagine! Celebration Dinner and Auction will go to support Imagine!’s SmartHomes. This unique project is providing the residents who live in Imagine!'s two SmartHomes opportunities to use technology to increase their independence and community interaction.

The SmartHomes are also serving as laboratories of sorts to test and refine technologies that can be used to keep other individuals with developmental disabilities in their own homes longer, and to provide staff efficiencies to other residential service providers.

Here’s a great example of that second SmartHome goal in action: Several residents of the Bob and Judy SmartHome are helping to test some task prompting systems that may assist individuals with developmental disabilities in gaining and keeping meaningful employment.

The residents have teamed with the engineering team at Assistive Technology Partners to test an innovative project funded by the National Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) as part of the RERC-Workplace Accommodations Grant. This project is exploring the use of two different task prompting systems that could aid an individual with a disability in successfully performing assembly line tasks. Task prompting is similar to creating a check list to make sure the proper steps are being performed in the correct order for a given task.

The job that was chosen involves packaging Chocolate First Aid Kits. The first aid kits contain chocolate bars and bottles of chocolate candy. The kits are sold in gift shops throughout the United States.

The SmartHome residents are using two different types of prompting systems, so the researchers can compare the two systems and determine if one is more effective then the other. In both systems, there is a checklist or sequence of tasks that need to be preformed. In the first system, the individual must determine if the task has been performed and then hit a button to check it off the list and proceed to the next task. In the second system, a tool is developed to determine if the task has been performed. The tool utilizes sensors placed in the environment to know what has been completed. If the task has been completed, the next step is automatically presented.

The researchers hope to discover that the second system is more effective then one which relies on a human to hit a button to advance to the next step. The use of this information will be valuable in helping devise future projects for helping individuals with cognitive disabilities be successful in employment settings.

Thanks to Assistive Technology Partners for providing the information for this post, and for allowing SmartHome residents to take part in research that may have a powerful impact on their independence and quality of life.

It’s Not Too Late To Join Us At The Imagine! Celebration

The Imagine! Celebration, the annual fundraising event of the Imagine! Foundation, will honor the Foundation’s first decade and promises to be bigger and better than ever! In order to accommodate 400+ guests and approximately 200 auction items, the event will again be held at the newly renamed Plaza Hotel Longmont (formerly the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center). Some proceeds from the event will support Imagine!'s SmartHomes.

It’s not too late to put Friday, January 28, 2011 from 5:30-10:00 p.m. on your calendar! Special activities in celebration of the Foundation’s first ten years and its raising of $4,000,000 are planned.

Thanks to its popularity and proven results, electronic bidding will make its fourth appearance! The Imagine! Foundation was one of the first non-profits in the area to try electronic bidding three years ago, and it is now showing up at more and more events. It’s easy, fun, and allows guests to enter their bids on hand-held “tablets,” check periodically to see what items they are winning, and find “bargains,” all without having to leave their table or group.

As always, the announcement of the Consumer of the Year will be a highlight of the event.

See you on January 28th!

More info here.

Purchase tickets here.

Online auction here.

Bid On Auction Items Online!

The Imagine! Celebration Dinner and Auction is scheduled for Friday, January 28. Even if you can’t attend, you can participate in an online auction to support this ambitious project.

To do so, just click here. Once you go to the site, just enter a maximum amount for each item you wish to bid on. This bid will be incorporated into the Live Auction on the night of the event. The highest bidder acknowledged by the Auctioneer shall be the winning bidder. If you are the winning bidder and are not present at the event, you will be contacted within 24 hours of the close of the auction (approximately 9:00 p.m. on January 29, 2011). If you would like to secure and purchase the item today, you may acquire it for the Buy It Now price.

The items available for auction are pretty cool! There are trips galore from California to Greece, a Mediterranean feast and several other catered meals in your home, an elk hunt (see picture), fly-fishing expedition, sailing lessons, Disneyland tickets, an African safari, many restaurant certificates and hotel stays, and much, much more!

Innovations Brings Children ‘Home’

Here’s a nice story that illustrates just one of the many ways that Imagine! supports members of our community, and why your support of the Imagine! Foundation is so important. Thanks to Kristina Mondragon for sharing this story.

Note: The name of the individual used in this story has been changed.

Bob was nineteen years old and beginning to despair. He had been in the child welfare system for five years. For much of that time, he was hoping that he would find a foster home, but it hadn’t happened. “I didn’t know if there was a family out there for me,” he said. Then his caseworker referred Bob to Imagine!'s Innovations for Children department. Shortly thereafter, things began to change.

Bob was placed in a foster home in November, just before Thanksgiving. Bob’s foster parents opened their hearts and home to him and immediately made him part of the family. “I feel like I’m their son, and they support me in my goals,” Bob stated.

Over the past several weeks, Bob has enjoyed spending time with his new brothers and sisters, and has developed relationships with his foster parents’ extended family. Bob also started volunteering at a local food bank where he hopes to “learn job skills and help people who really need it.”

Just before the holiday season, Bob told his Imagine! placement worker, “This is the first time I have a family for the holidays and I think this year I will be happy.”

Imagine! Celebration Dinner And Auction Set For January 28

The Imagine! Foundation reaches its 10th anniversary this year. The Imagine! Celebration, the annual fundraising event of the Imagine! Foundation, will honor the Foundation’s first decade and promises to be bigger and better than ever!

In order to accommodate 400+ guests and approximately 200 auction items, the event will again be held at the newly renamed Plaza Hotel Longmont (formerly the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center). Please put Friday, January 28, 2011 from 5:30-10:00 p.m. on your calendar! Special activities in celebration of the Foundation’s first ten years and its raising of $4,000,000 are planned. As always, the announcement of the Consumer of the Year will be a highlight of the event.

Meanwhile, new and exciting auction items are arriving every day!

We’ll have trips galore from California to Greece, a Mediterranean feast and several other catered meals in your home, an elk hunt, fly-fishing expedition, sailing lessons, Disneyland tickets, many restaurant certificates and hotel stays, and much, much more!

More information about sponsors, auction items, and all of the festivities is available on the Imagine! website and the Imagine! Facebook page. Check back frequently for the latest updates!

Ticket and table prices remain the same as last year at $95/each for tickets and $1,250 for tables of ten.

Purchase tickets quickly and easily online.

Reserve now, and we’ll look forward to seeing you on January 28th!

Congratulations Eric!

We’d like to send our congratulations to Eric Wallace, who recently was honored by the Longmont Area Chamber of Commerce with the 2010 “Making a Difference” Award.

We can’t think of a more deserving recipient. Not only does Eric serve on the Imagine! Foundation Board of Directors, he also demonstrates Imagine!’s mission in action by providing employment opportunities at Left Hand Brewery to many of the people Imagine! serves. Eric is the President and co-founder of the popular Longmont-based brewery, which has hosted a variety of fundraising events in the past for many great causes.

In addition to serving on the Imagine! Foundation Board, he also serves on the Colorado Shakespeare Festival Advisory Board, and is the President of the Colorado Brewers Guild.

Thanks Eric for all you do for Imagine! and for your community!

Colorado Gives Day Update

Colorado Gives Day on December 8, 2010, a new initiative to increase philanthropy in Colorado through online giving, resulted in $4,405 in donations to Imagine!, including $820 from Imagine! employees.

A portion of this amount will be matched by Community First Foundation’s Incentive Fund to augment this total.

Thanks to the generosity of our employees, the employee campaign – Transcend $10,000 – is now at nearly $5,000 donated on behalf of Imagine!’s consumers.

Thanks to all who contributed!

Colorado Gives Day Is Today

Donate to Imagine! this Holiday Season and increase the value of your gift TODAY, December 8.

Imagine! is participating in this new initiative that will help raise $1 million in one day for charities. Help us bring in our share!

TODAY UNTIL MIDNIGHT, you have an opportunity to increase the value of your gift. FirstBank has provided $250,000 as the lead gift for a Colorado Gives Day Incentive Fund that will leverage donations made through GivingFirst.org. The Incentive Fund (now at $320,000!) will be proportionally allocated across all donations received today, increasing the value of each gift. In addition, 100% of your online gift and the extra incentive will go to Imagine! – no bank fees! Just go to the Imagine! website at: www.imaginecolorado.org and press the Donate Here! button on the right hand side. It will take you directly to Imagine!'s page on the Giving First website. Note: Imagine! Celebration ticket, table, and sponsorship purchases (because you receive goods -- dinners -- back in return) are not eligible.

Imagine! In The News

A group of first-year CU Engineering students have been working all semester to create some simple assistive technologies for folks Imagine! serves. Check out this great story from the Daily Camera about this ambitious project.

The Camera also made this video:

Thanks To Dave Query and Big Red F Restaurant Group

This past Thursday, Dave Query, owner of Big Red F Restaurant Group, once again treated Imagine! clients and their families to a traditional turkey dinner on Thanksgiving.

Query donated the makings for a delicious Zolo-style repast with all the trimmings, and the wait staff volunteered its time. There was no charge for the meal for the clients and their families, and no tips were necessary. Query said that he just likes to make the day a little easier for families associated with Imagine!.

This is the seventh year Query has offered this generous opportunity, and in the last six years, The Big Red F Restaurant Group has donated Thanksgiving dinner to over 2,500 Imagine! clients and families.

So here’s a post-Thanksgiving thanks to Dave and his staff for providing such a fantastic holiday meal to Imagine! families.

Imagine! In The News

Imagine! staff members work hard to share the successes of our organizations and the people we serve with the community at large, so everyone can see the contributions individuals with developmental disabilities can make if given the opportunity.

One way we do this is by sharing stories with members of the local media. A couple of examples are below.

You may be aware that some students in a CORE/Labor Source journalism class have been having articles they have written appear in the Times Call. The one linked below, which ran in the paper on November 14, is especially thoughtful, as one of the people we serve discusses what it is like to live with a disability.

Check it out.

And a very nice story appeared in the November 20 edition of the Longmont Times Call about a group of special visitors to the Charles Family SmartHome in Longmont.

Have a look.

Imagine! Through The Eyes Of One We Serve

Sometimes, the best way to learn about an organization like Imagine! is to hear from the people the organization serves. The story below initially appeared in the Longmont Times-Call on Sunday, November 14, 2010. I think you’ll find what Mike has written truly captures the mission of Imagine!.

To see more of what the CORE-Longmont Reviewers have written, click here.

Living With Disability: The Way I See It

By Mike Williams of the CORE-Longmont Reviewers

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Mike Williams, and I am one of the CORE-Longmont Reviewers. The topic of my article is how society views the disabled community.

You know, folks, sometimes society makes me sick with the way they view us: the disabled community. Everywhere I go, there is always someone giving a disabled person a hard time by giving them a dirty look, cracking a joke about that person or just talking about them behind their back.

Folks, I don’t know you, nor do you know me, but allow me to tell you a little about myself: I am 25 years old, and I was born with autism. I can’t even begin to tell you how badly it hurt me with the way society treated me.

Thankfully, Colorado has an agency dedicated to helping those with disabilities. It is called Imagine!, a nonprofit organization based in Lafayette. I have been a client for seven years.

Not only does Imagine! help those with disabilities, but it also has helped thousands of clients to learn to live on their own. Sadly, some of their clients may never know what independent living is like due to their disabilities. Luckily, Imagine! has homes for them, be it a group home or with care providers. Imagine! also helps its clients find gainful employment through Labor Source, which teaches individuals work-related skills by working on a work crew.

Imagine! has many day programs, so the client isn’t always sitting around being bored. One of the day programs is called CORE: Community, Opportunity, Relationship, Education. There are two of these day programs. One is in Boulder and the other in Longmont. CORE offers many different classes, such as music, cooking, hiking, swimming, and (my personal favorite) photography.

If you have any questions about Imagine! or its services, visit http://www.imaginecolorado.org/.

Until next time, your friend Mike Williams.

CORE/Labor Source Art Show and Performance

On Friday, Nov. 5, approximately 250 people crowded into the Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder for an art show opening and performance by artists and performers in Imagine!'s CORE/Labor Source classes.

Donna read a story about all the great things that have happened to her in the past year or so, including moving into the Charles SmartHome in Boulder and getting married.

Bobbi with one of her art pieces.

The demand for one of Gerald's pieces of art was so great that six prints of his paintings are being made!


Wes with one of his pieces of art.

Left Hand/Instant Imprints Fundraiser a Success

On Wednesday, November 3, 2010, Left Hand Brewing Company and Instant Imprints hosted a fundraiser for Imagine! at Left Hand Brewing Company in Longmont. Left Hand donated $1.00 per pint of beer sold, and Instant Imprints donated special Left Hand/Imagine! t-shirts, which were sold during the evening, with proceeds going to Imagine! as well.

In all, more than $500 was raised for Imagine!’s programs and services!

Thanks to Eric Wallace, an Imagine! Foundation board member and president of Left Hand Brewing Company, and Foundation board member Forrest Fleming, owner of Instant Imprints, for organizing the event.

Extra special thanks to all who showed up to support people with developmental disabilities.

Great Video

You know, the best endorsements of what we do at Imagine! come not from us, but from the folks and the communities we serve.

Broomfield United Methodist Church made this video below and showed it at their services on October 3rd. The video includes comments by Carl, the church’s custodian who receives support services from Imagine!, and his brother Scott, regarding the partnership between Broomfield United Methodist Church and Imagine!.

Thanks to the good folks at Broomfield United Methodist Church for their support of Imagine!, but more importantly, their support of Carl.

SmartHome Data Very Promising!

Our generous donors are aware that much of our fundraising efforts are directed toward supporting Imagine!’s SmartHomes. The goal of the SmartHomes is to demonstrate that technology can serve as a cost efficient way to improve the lives of individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities, as well as related conditions. The results from the first study of the effectiveness of our SmartHomes are in – and they are extremely promising!

A couple of weeks ago, members of Imagine!’s SmartHomes team met with researchers from Colorado WIN Partners to discuss some of their findings from their year-long study involving residents of the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome in Boulder. The researchers were looking at how the technology in the SmartHome was impacting the residents’ lives, and recently they presented some of their preliminary findings.

The overall findings matched well with the goal of our SmartHomes project. For instance, the research showed a large increase in residents’ perception of their control over their own lives. One of the key reasons for using technology was to provide the individuals served in the home the opportunity to become more independent, so we were very pleased to see this result.

Other areas where the research showed positive increases among residents included: feeling safer in their new home, feeling respected by others around them, number of personal relationships, and access to resources the residents felt they needed.

Another interesting finding, one that fits well with our goal of delivering services in a more cost effective manner, was that the increases above were noted while residents also reported a decrease in the number of services and staff interactions. Given the current state of the developmental disabilities service delivery and provision system in Colorado and the nation, that is exactly the result we are hoping for, as it demonstrates that it is possible to provide quality services even as the resources available for providing those services continue to dwindle.

The research data showed us that we still have some things to work on, though. For example, the data showed little change in how involved residents felt they were in their community. Community involvement is the cornerstone of Imagine!’s mission, and we believe that technology provides an opportunity for increasing such involvement. As more technologies go online at the SmartHome, we feel we will start seeing an increase in community involvement. But seeing the current data reminds us we still have a way to go and encourages us to redouble our efforts.

We’d like to thank the researchers from Colorado WIN Partners for their hard work and dedication. Danette Muselman and Elizabeth Woodruff, along with their research mentor Yvonne Kellar-Guenther, have provided us with a great deal of actionable data. Thanks also to I.B.M., who provided a $10,000 grant to support the research.

The researchers will be creating a white paper detailing the results of the study, and we will share that with you when that is complete.

Fundraising Event at Left Hand Brewing Company

Come celebrate or commiserate the day after Election Day and help raise money for Imagine!. On Wednesday, November 3, 2010, from 5:30-8:00 p.m., Left Hand Brewing Company at 1265 Boston Avenue, Longmont will donate to Imagine! $1.00 per pint of beer sold. Left Hand has a large Tasting Room, and entertainment and food will be provided. Eric Wallace, an Imagine! Foundation board member, is the president of Left Hand Brewing Company, and Foundation board member Forrest Fleming is organizing the event. Special Left Hand/Imagine! t-shirts donated by Forrest Fleming's Instant Imprints store will be available for sale for $10, with proceeds given to Imagine!.

As Left Hand’s website says, “From a golden crisp Polestar Pilsner to a roasty, black Imperial Stout, our balanced portfolio of handcrafted ales and lagers will keep your mind and your palate in a happy state of equilibrium.” Plus, you will be helping all of the individuals whom Imagine! serves! Join us!