Thank You, McGuckin Hardware!

Today we’d like to thank the good folks at McGuckin Hardware. Earlier this week, they presented us with a “big check” from their register round-up last month. Imagine! is most grateful to McGuckin! Their round-up donation will provide emerging technologies to people with intellectual disabilities so they can experience greater self-reliance. Examples include iPads that can “talk” to Amazon Echo/Google Home to follow a recipe, turn off lights, listen to music, and more!

Thank You Thursday

Recent generous donors to the Imagine! Foundation include:

Friend ($1-$249)
Erin Calderwood Polen
Katy and Tim Haverstick
IBM
In honor of Hannah Bozzay
  Deb and Doug Sandersen

As always, we thank all of our generous donors.

Wish List Wednesday

Welcome to the latest edition of The Wish List. Included below are items that would augment and enhance Imagine! programs and services for the individuals we serve and would be much appreciated. If you are able to provide an item, please contact Patti Micklin at pmicklin@imaginecolorado.org or 303-926-6443. Pick-up for large items can be provided, and your contribution is tax deductible. If you prefer to provide a cash gift to be used for the purchase of one of the items below, that would also be most welcome. Please check out this blog every Wednesday to see new Wish List Items.

This week's Wish List:

Imagine! Group Homes
American Furniture Warehouse gift certificates for upgrades to furniture in several homes
Picnic table
Grill

Honoring Mark Emery

After 35 years of service, Imagine! CEO Mark Emery is retiring from his position at the end of this month.

Mark’s work at Imagine! began at the end of 1983. Over the course of the following decades, he held eight different positions of increasing responsibility, with the ninth culminating as Chief Executive Officer. Innovation was in Mark’s DNA. Whether he was leading a team, participating in the process of program development, or working with the State of Colorado, Boulder and Broomfield counties to secure funding, the work Imagine! is doing today was often shaped by Mark’s leadership. His accomplishments have significantly and positively impacted people with intellectual disabilities, families, employees, and the community at large, in many ways, including:

• The establishment, in 1984, of one of the earliest community-based supported employment programs in the United States. 
• Early adoption of cell phones for vocational and day service employees to allow people receiving services to move seamlessly and unobtrusively through their communities. 
• The development of a program which provides community-based services within a therapeutic framework in response to the request of community members with disabilities and family members who care for those with disabilities. 
• Use of unmarked vehicles for transporting people receiving services, in order to de-stigmatize the individuals in services and instead subtly focus on shared aspects of humanity. 
• The creation of a program for individuals on the Autism Spectrum and their families where they could select their own providers through an online store rather than use a traditional Case Management model. 
• A pilot program where individuals served by Imagine! and their families could research provider agencies and the services they provide online. 
• A pilot program where remote monitoring was utilized to allow individuals with intellectual disabilities to live independently while still promoting their safety. 
• The creation a potential solution to the labor crisis facing intellectual disabilities services across the nation by designing an app which takes an Uber-style approach to employee recruiting. 

It’s no easy task to honor someone who’s given so much, but the Imagine! Board of Directors, the Imagine! Foundation Board of Directors, and the Imagine! Executive Team have come up with a way we think is very fitting. We’ve decided to rename the Imagine! Foothills Group Home in his honor. Going forward, it will be called the Mark Emery Foothills Group Home.

Congratulations, Mark, an thank you for all you have done to create a world of opportunity for all abilities. We will honor your legacy by continuing to build upon it!

Thanks, Don!

Today we offer our thanks to Don Brown, who has served as the President of the Imagine! Foundation Board of Directors for the past two years. Under Don’s leadership, the Imagine! Foundation Board has grown and thrived, bringing in significant donations that help enhance Imagine!’s services for individuals with I/DD. Don has served with grace, dignity, and a lot of humor, and we can’t thank him enough for all he has done to help create a world of opportunity for all abilities.

Thank You Thursday

Recent generous donors to the Imagine! Foundation include:

Bronze ($1,000-$2,499)
Live and Give Longmont Fund, Longmont Community Foundation

As always, we thank all of our generous donors.

Wish List Wednesday

Welcome to the latest edition of The Wish List. Included below are items that would augment and enhance Imagine! programs and services for the individuals we serve and would be much appreciated. If you are able to provide an item, please contact Patti Micklin at pmicklin@imaginecolorado.org or 303-926-6443. Pick-up for large items can be provided, and your contribution is tax deductible. If you prefer to provide a cash gift to be used for the purchase of one of the items below, that would also be most welcome. Please check out this blog every Wednesday to see new Wish List Items.

This week's Wish List:

Imagine!’s Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome
Knife set
Canvases & art supplies
Instapot
Snow shovels
Icemelt
Laminator
Color Printer
Mini lockers/storage cubby for staff belongings

Thank You Thursday

Recent generous donors to the Imagine! Foundation include:

Platinum ($10,000+)
In memory of Becky Von Eschen
  Bob Von Eschen

Associate ($500-$999)
Lockton Investment Advisors

Supporter ($250-$499)
Heather and David Wier

Friend ($1-$249)
Anonymous
Lu Walters and Kent Arnold
Cheryl Pricone and John Bradin
Tom Glassen
Ken Hackbarth
NickMcDowell
Barbara and Harry Newman
In honor of Mike Gehr
  Alice Swift
Jessica and Jeff Tyler

As always, we thank all of our generous donors.

Wish List Wednesday

Welcome to the latest edition of The Wish List. Included below are items that would augment and enhance Imagine! programs and services for the individuals we serve and would be much appreciated. If you are able to provide an item, please contact Patti Micklin at pmicklin@imaginecolorado.org or 303-926-6443. Pick-up for large items can be provided, and your contribution is tax deductible. If you prefer to provide a cash gift to be used for the purchase of one of the items below, that would also be most welcome. Please check out this blog every Wednesday to see new Wish List Items.

This week's Wish List:

Furniture and Housing Needs for Imagine!’s Santa Fe Group Home in Broomfield
2 new office chairs
Stand Mixer
New non-fabric couch 50" or larger
Smart TV
New set of nonstick pots and pans

Thank You, Messy Play Day Volunteers

Today we’d like to thank some very kind volunteers (pictured below) from Charles Schwab and National Charity League, Inc., who helped make Imagine!’s Dayspring department’s Messy Play Day event a hit with kids and parents.

What is Messy Play Day? Messy Play Day is one of Imagine!'s Dayspring department's Community Calendar Activities (CCAs). CCAs introduce young children with developmental delays and disabilities to places in our community that offer great activities and opportunities for children to meet their goals through fun and play. All activities encourage motor, sensory, social-emotional, cognitive, and speech-language development.

Messy Play Day is designed to introduce new sensory experiences to the children in a safe and comfortable environment. Learning occurs as children touch, manipulate, experiment, and talk about things, while interacting with people who facilitate without directing.

But the paragraphs above are just words. Take a look at the video below of some of the Messy Play Day sensory activities to see what the words look like in action.

Thank You Thursday

Recent generous donors to Imagine! include:

Associate ($500-$999)
Wiland

Friend ($1-$249)
IBM

As always, we thank all of our generous donors.

Wish List Wednesday

Welcome to the latest edition of The Wish List. Included below are items that would augment and enhance Imagine! programs and services for the individuals we serve and would be much appreciated. If you are able to provide an item, please contact Patti Micklin at pmicklin@imaginecolorado.org or 303-926-6443. Pick-up for large items can be provided, and your contribution is tax deductible. If you prefer to provide a cash gift to be used for the purchase of one of the items below, that would also be most welcome. Please check out this blog every Wednesday to see new Wish List Items.

This week's Wish List:

Furniture and Housing Needs for Imagine!’s Manhattan Group Home in Boulder

Non-fabric couch (6’), loveseat (5’), and chairs
Bike Rack
Picnic table
Two small raised garden beds (3 ft tall, 4 ft long, and 3 ft wide) for vegetable gardening