Happy Anniversary, Out & About!

This year marks the 15th Anniversary of Imagine!’s Out & About department making a positive difference in the lives of people with developmental disabilities and their families by providing positive instruction and community-based services within a therapeutic framework.

Out & About was created in 1997 in response to the requests of community members with disabilities and family members who care for those with disabilities. Since that time, Out & About has continued to grow and develop into a dynamic, exciting, and flexible organization thanks to the ideas, requests and suggestions of staff members, the community, and the people they serve.

Out & About offers community-based recreation programming for adults and children with developmental disabilities, including: 

• Catalog - Services offered on evenings and weekends for adults. Some examples include: swimming, equine therapy, bowling, hiking, holiday dance parties, arts & crafts, Denver Zoo, Museum of Nature and Science, Water World and Elitch Gardens. Out & About also offers a mid-day Saturday activity for school aged children.

• After School Program - Offered to school-aged children. Participants are picked up from their respective school and driven to the activity by an Out & About instructor.

• Summer Camp and select School Closure Days  – Full day services for school aged children when school is not in session.

In each program area Out & About uses positive instruction within a therapeutic framework to encourage growth, learning, community participation, socialization, health, safety and the achievement of individual goals for each participant.

To honor this important anniversary, Out & About will be hosting a celebration event this Friday, November 2, in conjunction with its usual Friday Night Out event. The celebration is free and open to the public, and will take place from 6:30 – 9:30 in the John Taylor Conference Center’s Pounds Conference Room, located in Imagine!’s office at 1665 Coal Creek Drive in Lafayette. 

If you are interested in attending, please contact Haley Jones Short, Out & About, Therapeutic Specialist/Evenings and Weekend Coordinator, at hjones@imaginecolorado.org.

Congratulations, Out & About! 

Thank You Thursday!

This week’s roundup of generous donors to the Imagine! Foundation includes:

Cash Donations

Silver ($2,500-$4,999)
Boulder Community Hospital – Silver Sponsor of Imagine! Celebration

Associate ($500-$999)
Harold & Connie Jackson
Carl Vertuca

Supporter ($250-$499)
Richard & Diana Lirtzman
In Memory of Sarah McInroy (for Imagine!’s Assistive Technology Lab)
  From Gary Dillard
  From Sarah’s Cousins Back East

Friend ($1-$249)
Bob & Cindy Baxt
In Honor of BC Interiors
  From Mad Seating
Tom & Susan Chesney
Kathy Coyne
Harris Faberman
Don Humphrey
In Memory of Sarah McInroy (for Imagine!'s Assistive Technology Lab)
  From Anonymous
  From Doris Brack
  From Robin Brewer
  From Mike Cooperman & Shirley Kasperbauer
  From Lyle & Beverly Dehning
  From Don & Brenda Graffis
  From Jean Hagenbuch
  From Kara Halley
  From Harry & Wanda Heibein
  From Barbara Kohler
  From Doug & Carol Creech
  From Dan & Kathy Leszcynski
  From Joseph & Dorothy Lindley
  From Cindy Lindquist
  From Don & Victoria Martin
  From Alan Mason & Maggie English
  From Sam & Kay McInroy
  From Sam & Sharon McInroy
  From Barbara McKenzie
  From Colleen Mecseji
  From Harry Robinson, Jr.
  From Vapotherm, Inc.
  From Lisa Vigil
  From Michael & Catherine Violette
In Memory of Billy Montgomery (for the Bob & Judy Charles SmartHome)
  From Charlene Laughlin
Arthur & Barbara Sward

In-Kind Donations

In-Kind Associate ($500-$999)
Boulder Community Hospital – Imagine! Celebration Auction Items: Heart Scan and Bike Fit

In-Kind Supporter ($250-$499)
Anonymous – Imagine! Celebration Auction Item: Royal Doulton figurine “Victorian Lady”
Smoker Friendly– Imagine! Celebration Auction Item: A Premium Cigar Basket

In-Kind Friend ($1-$249)
Anonymous – Imagine! Celebration Auction Item: Royal Doulton figurine “Bed Time”
Hotel Boulderado – Imagine! Celebration Auction Item: One night stay
Jeffrey K. Abrams Architect – Imagine! Celebration Auction Item: One hour consultation
Leonard’s Golf – Imagine! Celebration Auction Item: $50 gift certificate for lessons or practice

As always, we thank all of our generous donors.

Thank You, Energy Outreach Colorado

Today we’d like to thank Energy Outreach Colorado, which has provided a combination of in-kind and cash support for energy audits and significant energy efficiency improvements to two of Imagine!'s group residences over the past year through its Nonprofit Energy Efficiency Program (NEEP).

This support will reduce Imagine!'s energy consumption and costs at these facilities for years to come -- thereby strengthening Imagine!’s capacity to provide the broad range of services needed by people of all ages with developmental delays and disabilities throughout Boulder and Broomfield Counties.

Energy Outreach Colorado is the only independent, non-profit organization in the state that raises money to help limited income Coloradans afford home energy. Since 1989, EOC has raised more than $120 million to fund energy bill payment assistance, energy efficiency upgrades for affordable housing and nonprofit facilities, energy efficiency education, and advocacy on behalf of low-income energy consumers. Energy Outreach Colorado relies on private donations, corporate contributions and foundation grants.

Thanks, Energy Outreach Colorado, for your support of some of Colorado’s most vulnerable citizens.

Thank You Thursday!

This week’s roundup of generous donors to the Imagine! Foundation includes:

Platinum ($10,000+)
In Memory of Guy and Elaine Smith, Cari Pounds’ loving grandparents (for van for Imagine!’s Tenino House)

Associate ($500-$999)
John Moritz

Supporter ($250-$499)
In Memory of Sarah McInroy (for Imagine!’s Assistive Technology Lab)
  From Karri-Ada Kennedy

Friend ($1-$249)
Jim & Donna Lionberger
In Memory of Sarah McInroy (for Imagine!'s Assistive Technology Lab)
  From Bernie & Leona Stoecker
Jim & Sue Rector

In-Kind Donations

In-Kind Friend
Leona Stoecker – Imagine! Celebration Auction Item - One freshly baked loaf of bread each month for a year

As always, we thank all of our generous donors. 

Thank You To All Of Our Donors

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all those who support Imagine! and the Imagine! Foundation with cash and in-kind contributions. We publish the names of our donors on a yearly basis.

Click here to see the list of those who donated during fiscal year 2011-2012 (7/1/11 – 6/30/12).

Thank You Thursday!

This week’s roundup of generous donors to the Imagine! Foundation includes:

Cash Donations

Gold ($5,000-$9,999)
Energy Outreach Colorado – Grant of $8,818.08 for energy upgrades at Imagine!’s Manhattan Apartments

Bronze ($1,000-$2,499)
One Lafayette – Grant of $1,500 from City of Lafayette for emergency services for Lafayette families with a family member with developmental disabilities

Associate ($500-$999)
Olivia Edwards
John Thacker

Friend ($1-$249)
Martin & Helen Goldman
In Honor of Joanne Graham and Janine Randol
  from Stacey Forsyth
iGive.com 
John & Anna Mandis
In Memory of Sarah McInroy
  from Alice Galenson and Louis Thompson
Open Sky Event Marketing 
Virginia Patterson
United Way of Tri-County on behalf of Robert Kretsch

In-Kind Donations

In-Kind Friend
Denver Boulder Couriers – one courier trip

As always, we thank all of our generous donors.

Thanking The Daniels Fund

Today we’d like to say “thank you” to The Daniels Fund, which recently awarded Imagine! a $15,000 grant for Family Support Grants for families living in Broomfield who have a child with a developmental disability.

Why does this matter? Well, in 2010, the average cost of raising a child to the age of 18 has been calculated at $226,920, or almost $14,000 per year.

Now imagine if that child has a disability - the costs can become staggering. That is what makes Imagine!’s Family Support Grants so important, and why we are so grateful to the Daniels Fund for their support. Imagine! Family Support Grants help pay for the extraordinary costs of caring for a family member who has a developmental disability. Funds may be used to help pay for respite care, professional services, transportation, assistive technology, home modifications, and parent and sibling support.

The Daniels Fund awarded support grants for Broomfield families totaling $10,000 in 2009 and $15,000 in 2010. The organization has given a total of $40,000 to the grant program since 2009.

According to their website,

“The Daniels Fund, founded through the generous legacy of Bill Daniels, operates the Daniels Fund Grants Program and the Daniels Fund Scholarship Program in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. The Daniels Fund Grants Program supports nonprofit organizations in our four-state region as well as national programs. Each year, approximately 70% of the Daniels Fund’s community investments are made through the Daniels Fund Grants Program in the following areas: Aging, Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, Amateur Sports, Disabilities, Early Childhood Education, K-12 Education Reform, Ethics and Integrity in Education, Homeless and Disadvantaged, and Youth Development.”

A recent article in The Broomfield Enterprise highlighted the most recent grant from The Daniels Fund and shared one family’s story of how the grant was used to purchase an iPad and a set of educational programs to help their son learn and communicate.

We are so grateful to The Daniels Fund for their continued support of Broomfield families. Thank you!!!

Thank You Thursday!

This week’s roundup of generous donors to the Imagine! Foundation includes:

Cash Donations

Platinum ($10,000+)
PEH Architects, Inc. – gift of $15,000 for Imagine!’s Broomfield Group Home

Bronze ($1,000-$2,499)
Imagine! Employees – First Quarter “Transcend $10,000” Imagine! Employee Donation Program

Friend ($1-$249)
Helen Bosley

In-Kind Donations

In-Kind Bronze ($1,000-$2,499)
Andrea VanPeursem - Recumbent Stationary Bike

In-Kind Supporter ($250-$499)
Jan Rasmussen – Women’s Clothing

In-Kind Friend (Up to $249)
Bill & Beverly Sabin - For Imagine! Celebration Auction - Framed “Imagine” Photo from John Lennon Peace Wall in Prague (see photo)

As always, we thank all of our generous donors.

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, a national campaign that raises awareness about disability employment issues and celebrates the many and varied contributions of America's workers with disabilities.

Since 1984, Imagine!’s CORE/Labor Source department has been supporting Colorado’s Front Range communities by providing innovative supported employment solutions for businesses and for people who have a disability, including cognitive disabilities.

Supported employment offers people who have a disability the opportunity to develop vital job skills and become active participants in their communities, paying taxes and spending their hard earned money in neighborhood shops and restaurants. The benefits extend far beyond helping Imagine! clients, however. Businesses using CORE/Labor Source services are able to reduce recruitment and training expenses as they benefit from a diversified employee pool. Partnering with CORE/Labor Source is a “win-win” situation that is beneficial all around.

Many companies throughout Boulder and Broomfield counties hire individuals served by Imagine!. Click here to see a list of those businesses, and you are encouraged to visit them and say “thank you."

And please consider using CORE/Labor Source for your own staffing needs. It is a mutually beneficial way to help your community and your bottom line. Feel free to contact them at 303-775-3244 or triley@imaginecolorado.org.

Out & About Summer Camp Wrap-Up

Ten weeks flew by like the wind, and Imagine!’s Out & About Summer Camp has come to an end. From June 4 to August 10, Out & About hosted 45 school-aged children with developmental disabilities for 9-10 hour days during the work week. Horseback riding, swimming, art exploration, rock climbing, field games, Elitch Gardens, and Water World were just a few of the many activities the Summer Camp offered.

“Summer Camp practically starts in March, given all the preparation for hiring, training, and activity set up,” said Scott Wendelberger, Hiring/Training Coordinator. “It’s a big production. We brought in 15 temporary instructors for just the 10 weeks and we spend 35 hours on training the week before the kids come.”

This summer was Out & About’s biggest year in enrollment since 2009, including six participants brand new to Out & About. The big numbers in the summer are spilling over into the After School Program for school-aged kids, with seven more kids enrolled this September compared to last September.

Here’s what some parents had to say about their experiences with Out & About:

“The social interaction, the day to day communications and the level of productivity in my son’s day has been outstanding”

“The respite camp provides for our family; knowing our son is in good hands while we work or rest.”

“Allows single parent to work and engages child to grow.”

“Keep up the awesome program, we love Out & About, your staff is stellar!”

Congratulations to the Out & About staff for another outstanding Summer Camp!

Robert's Art

This blog post was submitted by Gary Stebick, Imagine!'s Communications Coordinator.

Recently I was at Foothills Group Home taking a photo of one of the staff members for a newsletter article about an award she received.  When I was leaving, Robert, one of the residents of the home, was near the front door and politely asked if there was anything he could do to be in the Imagine! newsletter. I told him I was certain there was, and asked him what his interests are. He mentioned art, and said he had a picture in his bedroom that he drew in high school that I might be interested in seeing.

Robert proceeded to show me the art and told me the process of how he decided what to draw in the picture. Robert‘s art teacher at Jefferson High School suggested that Robert find some pictures that he liked in magazines and use them for models for different parts of his art. Robert started by choosing to draw the picture with charcoal and pencil. He saw a picture of mountains that he liked, so mountains was the first thing he drew. Then he drew the large ship, fashioned after a large ship he saw in a photo. Then he found a photo of a man in a rowboat which he liked so he drew a man in a rowboat next. As he continued looking through magazines, he saw a picture of a helicopter and decided to put a helicopter into his drawing. Finally, since there were two ships in the picture he added the ocean, and that’s how he came to draw this wonderful piece of art.

Robert’s interest in art began when he was a child drawing in coloring books. Navy blue is his favorite color, followed by red and orange. Animals are his favorite thing to draw. When asked what he likes to do, Robert replied, “I like to help people, that's my favorite thing to do.”

The piece of art shown here has sentimental value to Robert. He wrapped the picture and gave it to his grandfather as a present.  Unfortunately his grandfather died unexpectedly soon afterwards. Robert’s grandmother knew the artwork was special to Robert and she returned it to him to serve as a reminder of his grandfather, a former Marine whose picture hangs on Robert’s wall near his artwork.

This piece of art that he drew in high school hangs over Robert's bed.  

Robert's favorite thing to do is helping people.

Thank You, City Of Lafayette

Today we’d like to send a big “thank you” to the City of Lafayette, CO, for its recent grant of $1,500 to Imagine! for Emergency Funds. The grant was given as part of the City’s “One Lafayette” program, which finances a community fundraiser to help local nonprofit organizations provide essential services.

Items that One Lafayette grant recipient programs help provide include:

• Food, shelter, and other emergency family assistance programs
• Medical care for low-income families and the uninsured
• Support and services for at-risk children
• Transportation, support, independence, and dignity for the elderly, developmentally disabled, and physically challenged
• Tutoring, mentoring, and leadership programs for young people

Funding from One Lafayette will be used to cover a portion of Imagine!'s Emergency Fund distributions to Lafayette residents with developmental disabilities during Fiscal Year 2013. Through the Emergency Fund, Imagine! provides limited financial assistance to help individuals served by Imagine! meet urgent or extraordinary needs not covered by Medicaid or other funding sources. For example, over the past year, with support from the City, Imagine! provided $9,646 in emergency support to 25 residents of Lafayette for dental work, respite care, bed bug extermination, appliances, groceries, diapers, and a high chair for a young child receiving Early Intervention services. Overall, Imagine! distributed $97,317 to grant 156 Emergency Fund requests throughout Boulder and Broomfield Counties during the last year.

The City of Lafayette will be distributing checks to all of the recipients of One Lafayette funds at their next City Council meeting, to be held Tuesday, October 2, beginning at 5:30.

Thank you, City of Lafayette, for your demonstrated commitment to some of your community’s most vulnerable citizens.

Thank You Thursday!

This week’s roundup of generous donors to the Imagine! Foundation includes:

Cash Donations

Supporter ($250-$499)
Daniel & Sandra Stevens

In-Kind Donations

Friend (Up to $249)
Liquor Mart – Donation of all beverages for the Summer Imagine!/Imagine! Foundation Board Get Together

As always, we thank all of our generous donors. 

Vote Abhaya!

Imagine!’s very own Abhaya Gurung is a finalist for the Irwin Siegel Agency Direct Support Professional (DSP) of the year! This is a very prestigious national award, and Abhaya was selected out of many nominations because of his unwavering commitment to the individuals he serves.

Help Abhaya out by voting for him online by clicking on this link. 

Learn more about the great work Abhaya does by clicking here.

Please share this post and tell all your friends to vote Abhaya!

Thank You Thursday!

This week’s roundup of generous donors to the Imagine! Foundation includes:

Cash Donations

Supporter ($250-$499)
The Philoptochos Society of Sts. Peter & Paul Greek Orthodox Church

In-Kind Donations

Platinum ($10,000 +)
Walt Pounds -- 18 file cabinets, seven lateral files, one 5-foot round table, several rectangular work tables, three work stations, and 40 chairs, plus transportation, moving, and assembly of all items at two Imagine! sites

Friend (Up to $249)
Coal Creek Bowling Center - Discounted rates on games and shoe rental for Out & About participants on Friday Night bowling nights
Denver Boulder Couriers – One courier trip

As always, we thank all of our generous donors.

Thank You From Dayspring

Imagine!’s Dayspring department has released its catalog of Community Calendar Activities for September – December 2012.

The Community Calendar Activities (CCA) program brings children aged 0-3 with developmental disabilities and delays (and their families) into community facilities such as recreation centers, dance studios, and children’s museums for group play, educational opportunities, and fitness activities with the support of an Imagine! Pediatric Occupational Therapist and an Early Childhood Special Educator. Each session is geared toward encouraging motor, sensory, social, emotional, cognitive, and/or speech and language development. As the Therapist and Educator assist the children, they model for parents the behaviors that encourage and support each child’s individual development in a community play setting. CCA helps build the confidence of parents as their children participate in activities in the community, while empowering community businesses and nonprofits to feel comfortable about welcoming children with special needs.

Dayspring would like to acknowledge the following for their generous support of Community Calendar Activities, which would not be possible without their ongoing help.

Honoring Imagine!'s DSPs

September 9 - 15 is National Direct Support Professionals (DSP) Recognition week, and in conjunction with that, Imagine! has submitted a nomination for 19th Street Group Home Residential Counselor Abhaya Gurung for the Irwin Siegel Agency’s 2012 DSP Recognition Award. Thanks to Innovations’ Marie Handlin and Vanessa Bishop for submitting outstanding letters of support for Abhaya, pictured here with one of his favorite people, Dasha.

Below are just a few of the comments taken from the nominations for Abhaya.

Marie Handlin, Innovations Host Home Coordinator wrote, “Abhaya brings hard work, great care, respect, and professionalism to his job on a consistent basis. He is one of those guys who does it all, and does it well and with a smile on his face. The care he provides is kind, compassionate, and with great efficiency. I know he is a consumer favorite, too, as you will hear one of the consumers who lives at the 19th Street Group Home saying his name repeatedly in adoration whenever he is on shift.”

Vanessa Bishop, Innovations Host Home Coordinator wrote, “Abhaya advocates for the consumers at 19th Street Group Home like they are his family. He spends an extra 15 minutes here and there on Activities of Daily Living sheets, not because he has to, but because he genuinely enjoys spending time with consumers and knows the importance of making people smile. Every morning he would greet one of the residents with a, “Buenos Dias senorita”, and her face would light up with a huge smile.”

And in stating why it is important to him to be a Direct Support Professional, Abhaya wrote, “I feel that showing love, empathy, and compassion towards your fellow human beings is a very important virtue to have. I get this opportunity while caring for the residents at 19th Street Group Home, and the experience also enriches my life. So many of us are never happy with what we have. We always want more of the material things which we think will make us happy. But after working with people with developmental disabilities, I don't take the things I have for granted. I cherish the good health, family, friends, and life that I have, and try to enjoy them to the fullest. I do confess though that sometimes I wish I would win the Powerball jackpot; but deep down inside, I know that I have won it may times over.”

Congratulations Abhaya, and thanks to all Imagine!’s DSPs. Please know that you and your work are highly valued and appreciated.

Thank You Thursday!

This week’s roundup of generous donors to the Imagine! Foundation includes:

Friend ($1-$249)
Kathy Coyne
In Memory of David LaHoda
  from the Imagine! Celebration Core Group: Colene Van Winkle, Paige Lawrence, Don Sullivan, and Deb Gravelle
In Honor of Brian Staiger
  from Rose Staiger
United Way of Tri-County Payroll Deduction (on behalf of Robert Kretsch)

As always, we thank all of our generous donors.

Thank You Thursday!

This week’s roundup of generous donors to the Imagine! Foundation includes:

Cash Donations

Platinum ($10,000+)
Safeway Foundation – $10,000 grant for Labor Source

Associate ($500-$999)
Barbara Pozzi – for new Broomfield group home

Friend ($1-$249)
East Boulder Optimist Club 
Rebecca Herman
Rick & Jackie Nelson

In-Kind Gifts

In-Kind Associate ($500-$999)
Dick Livingston – iPad and accessories for testing and training
Mountain Kids – Space and free admission for gym time for Dayspring families

In-Kind Friend ($1-$249)
Airborne Gymnastics - discounted rates for Dayspring families Jan.-June 2012
B & C Bounce Town - discounted rates for Dayspring families Jan.-June 2012
Pam Felderman – books and baby clothes
Sunflower Farms - discounted rates for Dayspring families Jan.-June 2012
WOW! Children’s Museum - discounted rates for Dayspring families Jan.-June 2012

As always, we thank all of our generous donors.

 

Congratulations, Sue

Congratulations are in order for Sue Deans, former editor of the Daily Camera, for being honored recently as the Boulder Rotary Club's Rotarian of the Year award.

Sue is a former member of the Imagine! Foundation Board of Directors, and continues to serve on the Foundation’s marketing committee. Her support of Imagine! over the years has been invaluable.

Which is why it is no surprise that Sue was selected as Boulder’s Rotarian of the Year. This prestigious award is given to a member who has made a significant impact on the Boulder Rotary Club and its programs and projects throughout the year. Sue has been a powerful force for good in our community for many years, and in many ways, and we feel so fortunate to be associated with her.

Congratulations, Sue, on this well deserved honor.