Change for the Better

Coraly and Jose are from Puerto Rico and lived there most of their lives. They welcomed their beautiful daughter, Sofia, into the world and discovered she has Down syndrome. After researching education and public services for children with developmental disabilities in Puerto Rico, they were concerned for Sofia’s quality of life and decided to move.

When Sofia was one and a half years old, they officially made a transition to the mainland US. Jose is a dentist and had to close down his office in Puerto Rico and start new in the U.S. “It was a lot of pressure to start over and still provide for my family,” said Jose. “but I can’t imagine not moving here, it was the right decision for our family.”

They elected to live in Colorado as it felt safe and has a quality educational system. They found a home in Longmont and Jose continued his dentistry career in Boulder. One of Jose’s patients told him about Imagine! and the services it offers to individuals with developmental disabilities. Coraly and Jose called Imagine! right away and enrolled Sofia in Dayspring services.

Imagine!’s Dayspring offers a variety of interventions for babies and toddlers to help them excel at an early age. “Early intervention is crucial,” said Jose. “That’s why we decided as soon as she was born to make a change.” She received physical, speech, and occupational therapies at home, as well as attended the Community Calendar Activities on a weekly basis to improve her social skills. “It was great,” said Coraly. “Her motor skills, speech, and feeding improved greatly and we became good friends with her therapist.” 

“You can tell when someone is doing something for the paycheck and when it’s because they love what they’re doing. That was impressive to me, seeing the Dayspring therapists work with my daughter because they love what they’re doing,” said Jose.

Fast forward to three years later, Sofia attends two schools, socializes well with her peers and teachers, and is trilingual in English, Spanish, and ASL. Sofia is a big sister to her six month old brother. “She’s a good sister,” said Coraly. “She loves him and wants to help.”

“From the day we moved here to now, it’s incredible to see the change in how she talks, walks, and communicates with others,” said Coraly. “We’re blessed and happy to have known all these people at Imagine!.”