Support Innovations Fall Formal

Imagine!’s Innovations department (which oversees Imagine!'s SmartHomes) is hosting a crowdfunding campaign for its Second Annual Innovations Fall Formal! The Innovations team hopes to raise $1,500.00 to create a festive event that is as spectacular and memorable as the individuals served by Imagine!.

The Fall Formal, scheduled for October 23, is a celebration for all of the individuals who receive services from Innovations. It promises to be a fun and social atmosphere full of dancing, friends, and community, and together We can make it happen!

Your gifts will pay for a live band, a photo booth, nutritious snacks, and masquerade-themed decorations. Check out the video below to learn more, and then please consider clicking here to donate. Please feel free to share with your friends and loved ones!

Can’t see the video? Click here.

Thank you for helping us make this the best formal event ever!

Congratulations, Rebecca!

Congratulations are in order for Rebecca Novinger, Imagine!’s Director of Client Relations. Rebecca recently completed her participation in Mountain States Employers Council’s Nonprofit Leadership Institute, a comprehensive, nine-month program designed for senior leaders and executive directors of nonprofit organizations. In addition to Rebecca, this year’s participants included leaders from the Butterfly Pavilion, the United States Anti-Doping Agency, Mount St. Vincent, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, Girl Scouts of America, and several other nonprofit organizations in the Denver metro area. Over the course of the program, Rebecca completed many assessments, problem-solving solving sessions, integrated trainings, and executive coaching. “My time in this program provided the space for me to explore my leadership qualities, learn critical techniques necessary for today’s nonprofit leader, and develop my vision for how I want to lead,” said Rebecca. “I am grateful to everyone at Imagine! for supporting my participation.”

Handmade in Colorado EXPO

Today we’d like to offer our sincere thanks to Steve Wallis, organizer of the Handmade in Colorado Expo.

Handmade in Colorado Expo is a juried event showcasing some of Colorado's best fine art and contemporary craft. The event features a vast array of independent designers producing original handcrafted goods from a wide array of media including metals, paper, glass, fibers, food, fabricated objects, clay, paint, wax, gems, and more. All work sold is created by both emerging and experienced artisans from Colorado. This event is designed for "Locavores" as customers will only find Colorado made items sold by exhibitors, who will interact directly with their customers. This event has free admission and includes some great local live music.

This year, as he did last year, Steve will be donating 10% of exhibitor fees to Imagine!. In addition, he has offered a booth free of charge during the Boulder Expo (October 3 and 4) to artists in Imagine!’s CORE/Labor Source program so they may sell their original art. We encourage you to head over to the Pearl Street Mall the first weekend of October and support local artists (times listed above).

Thank you, Steve, for your incredible generosity and for your support of your community.

Imagine! Pilot Project: WaiverMarket.com

Imagine! is participating in a pilot project testing WaiverMarket.com to see if it offers a way for individuals served by Imagine! and their families to research provider agencies and the services they provide online.

Rather than write a long description of the project, I thought I’d use technology and create a short video explaining what we’re doing, and what we hope to achieve. Enjoy!

Can’t see the video? Click here.

Imagine! Volunteers in Action: IBM

Late last week, we were delighted to have 25 volunteers from IBM come out to Imagine! and help clean our fleet of vehicles as part of Foothills United Way’s Day of Caring 2015, Boulder and Broomfield counties' largest single day of volunteer service.

As you can see from the pictures below, the group was enthusiastic and hardworking. After watching a short presentation about Imagine! and the work we do, they jumped right in and started cleaning! We are so appreciative that they were willing to take time out of their busy schedules to help support Imagine! and our mission.

Celebrating DSPs

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper has proclaimed the week of September 14-18 as Direct Support Professionals (DSP) Week. DSPs are the heart and soul of Imagine! and we are so grateful for their dedication to our mission and the people we serve. If you see an Imagine! DSP this week, please pat them on the back, give them a high five, or just say “thanks.”

Why I Work For Imagine!

I think Imagine! is a great place to work. So do many of our employees. Need proof? Below, you will find several very short videos featuring employees from various departments at Imagine! discussing why they like working here. Alone or combined, the videos are a testament to our organization and the amazing employees who embrace our mission.

 Robin Braa 
  Can’t see the video? Click here.

Bridget Carroll
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 Sarah Fenton 
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Doris Franco
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Richard Lowe
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 Sierra Lund
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Mason Turnage
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Chantelle Tweten
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 Lucy Williams
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Imagine! Excellence in Customer Service Award: September 2015

Paula McCormick:
Recipient of the September 2015
Imagine! Excellence in Customer Service Award

Congratulations are in order for Paula McCormick, who is a Primary Residential Counselor at Imagine!’s 19th Street Group Home, on being selected as the September 2015 recipient of the Imagine! Excellence in Customer Service Award.

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

Paula has been such an asset to the 19th St. team. She’s reliable, caring, hardworking, and always willing to go above and beyond for our people and team. Paula is an incredibly creative problem solver and has earned the nickname MacGyver for all of the projects and creations she’s come up with. She’s also volunteered on numerous occasions to cover shifts or put in extra hours to make sure we’re covered or so that we have enough staffing to do activities with our people. She’s built very strong relationships with our people and they all respond favorably towards her. Paula is a natural problem solver and leader and we are very lucky to have her on our team.

She has made many improvements at 19th St., such as painting the walls, improving the area where med cups and syringes are washed, and even retrieving a large bookcase (on the sidewalk), bringing it to the home, and cleaning and painting it. I noticed yesterday while there that one of the individuals seems very fond of her and that’s unusual for him!

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

Our Creative Corner

Erica Sisavat, teaches a poetry class at Imagine!'s CORE/Labor Source Program in Longmont. She shared the following poem that blossomed from the shared imaginations of Dawn, Neal and Autumn, after studying the “Jabberwocky” in Erica’s class. We hope that you enjoy the following poem titled “Slurpy in the Woods, with the Bogre, and the Wooker.

The above "Jabberwocky" illustration comes from John Tenniel.

Slurpy in the Woods, with the Bogre, and the Wooker

The bogre went blurpy

Through the thistleweed

It tickled his lurp and he blurped

Thappy was he

He meets the wooker in the woods

They bliply went glurp about their day

And wavelled in the sun

You can tell by the way they herp

That they were wide awake

Out there in the forest of feelings

We hear a plurp, plurp, plurp

They saw a care-a-lot

Swing a big sword

They hurt, the luppy lumps

The luppy lumps, they yissed

And yaddelled

“Watch out for the sword”!

The bogre and the wooker ran

In a cabin in the woods

They locked the door with a key

And safe and sound were they

As they breathed a sigh of relief

Thank you Dawn, Neil, and Autumn for sharing your creativity with us!

Bryce: 7News 7Everyday Hero

Congratulations are in order for Bryce, who receives services from Imagine!, on being named a 7News 7Everyday Hero for his volunteer work at Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center. Check out his story below:

Can't see the video, click here!

Bryce, thank you for your service to our community!