Pups and Cups Please Employees

Last week, Imagine! celebrated its amazing employees with our second annual “Pups and Cups” event, featuring Sweet Cow Ice Cream for employees at all of our work sites and some very special guest visitors – puppies from Lifeline Puppy Rescue. Imagine! CEO Rebecca Novinger helped hand out the sweet treats, and the puppies helped lift everybody’s spirits! This is just one way we recognize the work our employees do every day to help create a world of opportunity for all abilities.

Technology Tuesday

In July, participants in Imagine!’s CORE/Labor Source program were introduced to a coding program called Scratch. Scratch is a free program that allows users to program their own interactive stories, games, and animations — and share their creations with others in the online community. Scratch helps people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively — essential skills for life in the 21st century for people of all abilities.

Imagine!'s Dayspring Bulletin - August 2019

Imagine!’s latest Dayspring Bulletin is available online.

Good News Friday!

Each year, Lafayette Elementary holds a charity event for a cause chosen by the students – one that is near and dear to their hearts. This year, Stephanie Downing’s second grade class chose Imagine!, and decided to add some chill to the end of the school year with a Lemonade Stand. They raised almost $200 in about an hour! Most importantly, they appreciate that Imagine! is an vital part of our community and helps people they know – their friends, siblings, even themselves. The students are already gearing up to raise even more next year!

Imagine!'s New Electric Vehicle Charging Station

Thanks to the Don and Lorraine Freeberg Foundation for a grant which enabled Imagine! to install two additional electric vehicle charging stations. One is located on the back side of our Dixon Ave. building (pictured) and we now have two located on the southwest corner of our Coal Creek building.

July Is Employment First Month

Colorado Governor Jared Polis has declared July to be “Employment First Month” – demonstrating his commitment to ensuring that Colorado citizens of all abilities have the opportunity to contribute to their communities through meaningful work opportunities. Imagine! has been committed to supported employment opportunities for people with I/DD since 1984. Click here to learn about how we work with local businesses to find jobs for the people we serve.

Imagine!'s Family Support Bulletin - July/August 2019

Imagine!’s latest Family Support Bulletin is available online.

Good News Friday!

Next week, on Friday July 26, Imagine! Assisitve Technology Program Supervisor Meagan Little will be presenting at Longmont Startup Week. Meagan’s presentation will be titled “Virtual Reality Worksite Demo for Individuals of All Abilities.”

The goal of this presentation is to demonstrate how Imagine! is working to support individuals to develop job skills through the use of Virtual Reality (VR). Many of the individuals we support have a hard time generalizing skills from one environment to the next and the use of VR allows us to make the environments similar to support with carrying the skills over.

Imagine! is currently working with a company called Reality Garage to work on making this happen. With the company we have worked on creating different aspects within the VR such as collecting data to see where someone needs help, errorless learning system and prompting hierarchy. All of these allow for use to support the individual to increase their job reality skills within the left-hand worksite.

You are encouraged to join Meagan for this look into the future of services!

Technology Tuesday

For almost a decade, Imagine! and the University of Colorado College of Engineering have collaborated to design adaptive technologies to aid increased independence for individuals served by Imagine!. Students work with Imagine! to design assistive technologies that open doors to increased self-reliance. With the fall semester rapidly approaching, Imagine! hosted a meeting to get the semester’s projects started right, discussing new ideas, the best ways to engage students, and more. Attendees included reps from the CU, The Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities, and Assistive Tech Instructors from Imagine!.

Quincy Malecki - Imagine! Excellence In Customer Service Award Recipient

Congratulations are in order for Quincy Malecki, recently honored with the Imagine! Excellence in Customer Service Award.

Quincy has an ability to develop a rapport with any person she meets receiving services at Out & About. She always works to make sure all children have the best support plan, staff are supported, and have all the resources they need to be the best they can. Staff gravitate to her for support and she provides it. She always is looking for how she can help and what needs to be done. She goes above and beyond to make sure there is a personal relationship developed with parents that instills the trust parents need.

Good News Friday!

Imagine! hosts a monthly orientation for its new employees, and at the most recent orientation a new video was debuted highlighting the culture at Imagine! – how our work truly does create a world of opportunity for all abilities. Although the video was designed for new employees, it does such a great job of capturing what makes Imagine! unique that we thought we’d share it further. Enjoy!

 

Save The Date - Imagine!'s Out & About Bike Block Party

Good News Friday!

Clients in Imagine!'s adult services have artwork on display RIGHT NOW at the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder. Check it out from now until July 14! In late June, Imagine! and Museo De Las Americas kicked off the art gallery in style with live music, artist greetings, an arts and crafts table, and a 3D printing demonstration.

Travis Morrison - Imagine! Excellence in Customer Service Award Recipient

Congratulations are in order for Travis Morrison, recently honored with the Imagine! Excellence in Customer Service Award.

Since Travis has joined Imagine!’s CORE/Labor Source (CLS) team less than a year ago, he has shown nothing less than excellent work ethic, dedication, and positive attitude. Travis quickly moved up into our Lead Counselor position and he is the type of person that sees problems or tasks that need doing and he will do it without being asked or looking for recognition. In addition, Travis has a wonderful personality that allows him to easily form great relationships with clients and his coworkers which creates a great environment for all. Travis displays a positive, professional and friendly attitude to all staff, clients and members of the community on a daily basis. He welcomes new staff and is a key factor in the quality training for new DSPs. Travis responds to emergency situations in a thoughtful and calm manner and communicates effectively and efficiently with staff, providers and supervisors. Travis also goes above and beyond to take on new responsibilities and completes tasks thoroughly and in a timely manner. It is truly a joy to have Travis as a member of the CLS team.

Technology Tuesday

We have a number of exciting new innovative technologies being installed and implemented at our Manhattan Group Home to help the individuals living in the home be more self-reliant and independent. We have installed Smart Speaker Technology for general alarms, reminders, and prompting. We have two separate prompting systems (one for each floor) that integrate with various sensor technologies to increase safety and independence in the home. This system also provides prompting around making healthy lifestyle choices. Additionally, one individual is using her iPad as an educational tool to learn more about her medications in an effort to increase her medication independence. This, in conjunction with an automated Medication Reminder Box will go a long way toward increasing her self-reliance around medications. Staff are working hard to support the individuals in the home with learning how to best utilize these new technologies to continue to develop their skills and achieve their goals. We look forward to continuing to see progress around utilization of these technologies within the Manhattan Group Home throughout the coming months! 

Great work Manhattan team with helping further Imagine!'s mission by creating opportunities for the individuals to grow in their skills through amazing technology solutions!

Imagine! Early Intervention Rockstar - Chelsea Haurin

Congratulations are in order for Chelsea Haurin, recently selected as an Imagine! Early Intervention Rockstar.

Chelsea joined the Early Intervention team less than a year ago and has been a great asset to the team. Her calm demeanor is comforting to families and team members around her. She provides consistent support to her families. In the last few weeks, Chelsea has worked through some challenging situations. She has been a rock throughout these challenges to make sure her families are receiving the services they need. We appreciate Chelsea’s hard work and are lucky to have her on our team!