Imagine! Job Fair

#SaveTheDate

Monday, July 13, 9-11 AM
Imagine!, 1665 Coal Creek Drive, Lafayette, CO

Do you know someone who might be a great addition to our Imagine! team? Someone who might be looking for a career where they can make a difference?

Cant' see the video? Click HERE

Imagine! is a progressive, statewide leader in services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Our services are community-based and mission driven. We value creativity, innovation, and teamwork. Our employees enjoy flexible work schedules, comfortable work environments, great benefits, as well as challenging and valuable work with friendly, supportive co-workers. We offer comprehensive orientation, training, and opportunities for professional development. If this sounds like what you are looking for, then join us July 13 and learn how you can start down the path of a meaningful career that positively impacts our community and the lives of the people we serve.

You can get more information about working at Imagine! at https://www.imaginecolorado.org/jobs-imagine-0

Aimee's Story

Aimee with her family gathered for her sister's wedding

When I was still in my mother's womb she smoked and when I was born I was an early baby. I was born on August the thirtieth. I was supposed to be born on September twenty first, but I wasn't.

When I was a small baby I developed an ear infection, and I had to take some baby antibiotics and to clear up the infection in my ears. When I was five years of age I went to the Children's Hospital to get tubes put in my ears and that was my beginning.

When I was six years old I went to a picnic at a park, and my mother told me not to run around the building which I wasn't supposed to do and I did it any ways. While I was running another child in a big wheel was following me around. As I made it around the building the big wheel hit my foot, I flipped, and I landed on my head. I would have liked to have landed on my feet instead, but that didn’t happen.

That was my first brain concussion, I didn't know, and my mother didn't know, and my sister did not know what was going on at the time of this accident.

A guy at the park told us to get into the car and we went to every Doctor in town and we finally found this one Doctor and he said that I had a brain concussion. The Doctor said that I should go home. When I got home, I lay down on the sofa, and I slept for three hours and then I felt fine afterwards.

When I got a little bit older I was turning seven years of age, and I got my first two wheeled bicycle for my birthday. I like to ride it, but I fell off and I got another brain concussion. I did not go home after this accident. I went to a friend’s house, and I did not know what I was saying to my friend. I cursed at my friend, and then I finally went home. When I got home I took some Tylenol for my head.

That was two accidents and two brain concussions.

I had two more accidents on my bicycle. One happened when I was swerving my bike and fell off, and the tube in my ear fell out. I went back to the Doctor's and he told me that I needed to have the tube put back in my ear that was my right ear. Later I fell again on my bike and the tube in my left ear fell out. After that accident I had to have another surgery on my left ear to put the left tube back in my left ear. I haven't had any more brain concussions since that last accident.

The doctor told me that if I get another brain concussion I will no longer be on Earth at all. So I am being careful and doing really well now that I haven't gotten another one at all.

Now I want to talk to you about is my mastoid surgery's. When I was ten years of age, I had to have a surgery on the mastoid.

The Doctor had to open the back of my ear, the left one to clean it out. I had two surgeries at ten years of age.

Life went on, and I turned twelve years old. I had to get hearing aids in the inner ear and around the back of my ear. I wore those throughout my junior and senior years of high school. I was in special Ed.

When I graduated from school my mother and father paid for one more hearing aid, and I had to do some chores around the house to help pay the other hearing aid.

At the age of twenty-two I had my last surgery. My Doctor had to move a piece of bone down in my ear to vibrate. The doctor thought that this surgery would help my ear hear better.

I really don't know how he did it though, but after that surgery, I could hear out of my left and right ear really for a while. One day it stopped working, and I had to go back and wear the hearing aids again. I have to wear hearing aids for the rest of my life until the day that I die.

This is my story. I wanted to let people know about my life.

Today, Aimee enjoys creating art with Imagine!'s CORE/Labor Source program in Longmont, Colorado.

Aimee drafting an “Artist Statement” for an upcoming
July 17 exhibit at the DairyCenter in Boulder.

An Update From Mandy

Earlier this month, Mandy who lives at Imagine!'s Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome and Site Supervisor Shannon Bundy attended the 2015 NASDDS Director’s Forum and Mid-Year Conference. Mandy participated in the self-advocate marketplace and sold some of her books. She learned a lot about how she wants to grow in her book publishing business. She has named her business “Mandy's Creative Corner.” Mandy told everyone at the conference her favorite book she has written is “Alice’s Adventures.”

Cooking Fun with John and Lana

Last week, Imagine!’s Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome residents John and Lana were having way too much fun prepping the vegetables to make homemade chicken noodle soup with Imagine! volunteer Rebecca, and we just had to share a photo of John and Lana!

Might you be interested in volunteering with Imagine!?

Imagine! Volunteers in Action: UPS

Today, we’d like to send a big thank you to UPS!

On Tuesday of last week, UPS sent a team of five volunteers to help with Imagine!’s Dayspring Department’s Messy Play Day. The team of five arrived early to help set up all of the stations and help Dayspring prepare for the arrival of families later in the morning. Many of the Dayspring staff commented on how helpful and efficient the team of volunteers was. The volunteers helped with the activity from start to finish, and Imagine! is so thankful for their support!

Might you be interested in volunteering with Imagine!?

Not sure what Messy Play Day is? Messy Play Day provides a fun and safe sensory experience for children receiving services from Imagine!’s Dayspring department. Messy Play Day is one of Dayspring’s many Community Calendar Activities, designed to introduce families with young children who have developmental delays or 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. Each location has activities that are age and developmentally appropriate. Activities are centered around play, because play is the primary vehicle for a child’s mental and physical growth. Play has a vital role in cognitive, speech-language, physical, emotional and social development.

Much of young children’s learning takes place when they direct their own play. Learning occurs as children touch, manipulate, experiment and talk about things, while interacting with people who facilitate without directing. During play, children are provided with sensory experiences and opportunities to move. Young children need to climb, run, jump and challenge themselves motorically. Children are natural explorers and instinctively touch, taste, hear and observe the world around them.

But enough of the why. Take a look at some of the pictures below to see what an amazing event it truly was!

Consider Supporting CaraSolva and Imagine!

Since it was first created, Imagine! has been a partner in the development of CaraSolva’s CareSupport software, which automates and simplifies the daily tasks performed by nurses and professional caregivers. CaraSolva is now in the running for a $100,000 small business grant through Chase Small Business’s Mission Main Street Grants program. Please consider supporting CaraSolva’s efforts by voting for them – they only need 250 votes to move to the next round! Simply click below and vote to help CaraSolva and Imagine! continue to move forward with designing software that improves the lives of individuals with disabilities.

http://www.carasolva.com/mission-main-street-grants/

Imagine! Excellence in Customer Service Award: June 2015

Congratulations are in order for Daniel Reizenstein, who works for Imagine!’s Out & About department, on being selected as the June 2015 recipient of the Imagine! Excellence in Customer Service Award.

Below is some information from Daniel’s nomination, which ably demonstrates why he was selected as this month’s recipient:

Daniel has gone so above and beyond his role as an instructor with Out & About. Daniel is bi-lingual and has helped us bridge a gap between a Spanish-speaking family and their service providers. He has been able to explain activities, advocate for the individuals in the family who attend our program, and acted as a messenger between the family and the Innovations department to help the family understand what they are able to receive as part of their plan. He is able to fully support this family and the individual's needs. Daniel works with a smile on his face on all occasions, and is a wonderful employee of O&A.

Great work, Daniel, and congratulations on this well-deserved honor!

"Art at Work" with Imagine!'s CORE/Labor Source Program

Last week we were invited by Bridget Carrol, who teaches an "Art at Work" class through Imagine!'s CORE/Labor Source (CLS) program in Boulder. We were warmly welcomed by Bridget and the artists in her class, as they quickly jumped from introductions to laying out their class schedule for the day.

The artists got their creative juices flowing with a check-in, by going around the table with the question of "if you could live anywhere in the world, were would you choose to live?" The answers varied from the Florida Keys, to Utah, to Washington DC, to Siena, Italy, to Paris, France, and beyond. One artist even contemplated the possibility of living under the sea with whales.

The artists reviewed recent purchases of their art from their online store, and celebrated sales that needed to be shipped to Alaska, and Pennsylvania, as well as a commissioned piece headed to Florida.

As one artist worked with Bridget to package paintings for shipping, others began working on personalizing and adding their artistic flare to new business cards.

Front and back of Business Cards

Next the artists jumped into their smocks to move their current works towards completion.

While B.G. worked on the commissioned piece above, with Bridget's guidance, others worked on a mixed media collage and other paintings.

 

A sincere thank you to Bridget and the artists from the CLS "Art at Work" class. We found the concentration, energy, and focus of you all to be inspiring. You can click here to check out their online store.

On the Road: Helping Youth Navigate into Adulthood

On the Road is a guide to assist youth with significant support needs navigate adult life in Boulder and Broomfield Counties. You can click here, or on the picture below to read the current edition of "On the Road" on the web.

Boulder Jewish Inclusion Survey

Do you have a family member or know someone who has special needs?

Do you want to create a more inclusive community?

 

A Boulder Jewish inclusion survey has been created by a volunteer-driven coalition of interested synagogues and organizations who are striving to create a more inclusive Jewish community with individuals with disabilities, mental health challenges, or other special needs. This short survey will only take 5 minutes.

Click here to take the survey!

Donna and Gerald Present at Metropolitan State University of Denver

Donna and Gerald, who currently reside at Imagine!’s Santa Fe Group Home in Broomfield, recently made a presentation to an undergraduate class at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Each shared their perspectives and stories of how their lives have changed over the years, and how they each contribute and participate in community life. As you can see in the pictures below, Donna, Gerald, and the students enjoyed learning and sharing time together.