Out & About Volunteering at Community Food Share

Story submitted by Scott Wendenberger

Two different times in April, a handful of participants from Out & About spent their morning at the Louisville Community Food Share, volunteering time and efforts in the warehouse.

“The participants really get into it and get a lot done in two hours,” said Scott Wendelberger, Out & About Instructor. Efforts included wrapping and labeling over 800 frozen pizzas, sorting 120 crates of bread, and dumping/rinsing out a couple dozen crates of gallons of milk. The volunteer supervisor, Sue Ericson, was impressed with the amount of work Out & About participants completed, and asked if they were coming back! “It’s great for the participants to learn how to give back to the community,” said Laura Schirmer, Out & About Instructor.

The participants are a part of an Out & About program called “Community Access.” This program focuses on participants (adult with developmental disabilities) expanding their knowledge of community resources and contributing to the community they live in. Other activities have included a Longmont Public Library scavenger hunt, Growing Gardens in Boulder, RTD bus ride on the DASH route, volunteering at the BoulderHomeless Shelter, as well as exploring museums around town.

Imagine!'s Leadership Development Program Update for May

Photographed from left to right above at the 2015 the Imagine! Celebration are
Meagan Roundtree, Sarah Baglee, Elena Ciaravino, and Cassie Rogers

As we approach mid-April, the Leadership Development Group is focusing a lot of our time and energy into completing our case studies. We were split into two groups: Elena, Sarah, and Cassie in one group, and Emily and I are in a second group. We have selected two case studies to work on. Elena, Sarah, and Cassie are working on Mark Emery’s case study which is about the Employee Compensation Package. The case study is described as follows:

Imagine! has put decades of effort into providing a very good employee compensation package with respect to our status as a not-for-profit, size, revenue realities, and number of employees. We do comparisons with similar sized organizations, both for profit as well as not-for-profit; study each piece of the employee compensation package and report cost/benefit analysis of each; and delve deeply to understand the risk of the company when offering benefits that for cost purposes only a projected portion of the eligible employees can utilize. What would happen if all eligible employees accessed all benefits? Measure the cost of the benefits if applied instead to wages.

Emily and I are working on Jodi Walter’s case study, which analyzes state wide person centered planning training. Read the details of this case study here:

In January 2014, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services promulgated a final federal rule to ensure that individuals receiving long term services and supports through home and community based services have full access to the greater community, to the same degree as those not receiving Medicaid. Colorado has developed a plan that meets the federal criteria. Part of Colorado’s proposed implementation of this rule requires all staff to receive training on Person Centered (PC) philosophy and practices. In Colorado, one dominant form of person centered training has come to the surface, hosted by The Learning Community. This training is very thorough, expensive, and time consuming. It is receiving state-wide praise and has thus far been accepted as the only option in PC training. This case study will examine the pros and cons of implementing the Learning Community’s PC training at Imagine!, as well as looking at what other PC training options occur across the nation that may or may not be a better fit for Imagine!. The desire is to form an opinion about this prior to the state mandating a“one-size-fits-all” methodology.

We will be presenting our findings in both of these case studies on May 4 to the executive team.

In addition to our focus on our case studies, we are wrapping up our Mountain States Employers Council Great Leadership Series courses over the next few months. We are also planning to attend the National Association of States Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services (NASDDDS) conference, June 10 – 12. The theme of this conference relates to state I/DD systems and “New Pathways.” Their website presents that, “The state I/DD systems are continually forging New Pathways to support people with I/DD and their families. NASDDD’s conference presents New Pathways underway at the systems level as well as the service level.

•  Technology and social network tools are giving people more direct control over their plans and team communications that support true person-centered practices

• Commitment and creativity are advancing the ability of children with significant medical care needs to live with families
• Training and learning approaches integrated into the daily routines and activities of children with autism spectrum disorder and their families continue to evolve
• With a focus on children and through the transition years, state I/DD and behavior health agencies have created integrated systems inclusive of both mental health treatment and I/DD support services.”

This will be the last conference that we will attend as the Leadership Development Group of 2014-2015, and we are looking forward to spending the three days together, learning about I/DD in our state and beyond as our work together over the last year draws to a close.

Imagine! Volunteers in Action: QCares

Today we’d like to send a big “thank you” to the Qualcomm Foundation for supporting Qualcomm employee volunteers who donated their time to Imagine! as part of the QCares Experience.

According to the Qualcomm website:

“Qualcomm's corporate volunteerism program encourages employee involvement in the community, and is our way of connecting our diverse employee base to local volunteer opportunities. QCares creates many opportunities for its employees, friends and families to participate in charitable events. Serving a wide range of needs, our employees are helping people with disabilities, improving the environment, feeding and clothing the homeless, and caring for animals. QCares organizes volunteer team building projects as special opportunities for internal departments to foster teamwork and celebrate accomplishments, while simultaneously contributing to the improvement of our communities.”

Qualcomm sent 15 volunteers to help at Imagine!’s Garden Place residence on May 14 as part of the QCares Day of Service. The group has been supporting Imagine! for many years now and we are so thankful for their help each year! This year the group helped to completely change the exterior look at Garden Place, which was really in need of an update.

As you can see from the before (at the top of the page) and after (at the bottom of the page) pictures, the work significantly improved the home for the residents who live at Garden Place.

Thank you, Qualcomm, for your commitment to your community, and thanks especially to the volunteers who worked so hard to make such a difference!

Arts and Crafts

Rebecca who lives at Imagine!’s Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome wanted to share this picture of her holding an arts and craft project that she created with an Imagine! volunteer, whose name is Gary.

Thanks for sharing Rebecca, we really like the undersea theme and that you included the initials of your housemates into your picture.

An Update from Karen

Last October we introduced you to Karen, who is a resident at Imagine!’s Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome in Boulder, via an Imagine! Voices blog post at http://voicesofimagine.blogspot.com/…/introducing-karen.html.

Karen has been busy these last five months, honing her cooking skills by trying out new recipes, and working out as her physical therapist advised so she can move toward regaining the independence that she enjoyed before experiencing an unexpected health event.

Check out this video, which Karen asked Shannon Bundy, site supervisor at the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome, to share, which shows the progress that Karen has achieved since October 2014. Karen has lost more than 20 pounds, and is able to stand all on her own!

Can't see the video? Click here.

Congratulations Karen, and thank you for sharing this video!

Imagine! Excellence in Customer Service Award: May 2015

Congratulations are in order for Sarah Godwin, who works for Imagine!’s Case Management department, on being selected as the May 2015 recipient of the Imagine! Excellence in Customer Service Award.

Below is some information from Sarah’s nomination, sent to us by Kate Veeder, who works for Imagine!’s CORE/Labor Source department. Kate’s nomination ably demonstrates why Sarah was selected as this month’s recipient:

Sarah is an amazing addition to the case management team. As a service provider, we are constantly in communication with all case managers and can get a feel for their sometimes overwhelming workload. Working with Sarah has been such a joy. She responds to all inquiries very quickly and is always including all necessary people of the team. It is clear Sarah has picked up on the workings of the SLS waiver as well as Imagine! in the short time she has been with the company. We all love working with her!!

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

_____

Do you know someone deserving of Imagine!’s Excellence in Customer Service Award?

One recipient will be honored each month, and will receive a personalized/engraved award, a choice of gift, a feature in the Imagine! newsletter, and a place on the “Excellence in Customer Service Wall” for 12 months. All Imagine! employees are eligible to receive the award and to nominate co-workers for it. Nominations are web-based via a link on the Resources for Employees page. The nomination process is simple and asks for the nominee’s name and a description of the Imagine! Customer Service Core Value(s) observed to demonstrate excellent customer service.

Quality customer service is a key component to success for Imagine! across all departments and programs. Keep an eye out for your colleagues providing exceptional service to Imagine!’s stakeholders, and nominate him or her for the Excellence in Customer Service Award. Nominations are welcome and encouraged for the June 2015 award now. Visit the Resources for Employees page or select the link here.

Imagine! Volunteers in Action

Last month, on April 18, a group of 30 students from the University of Colorado volunteered to clean up vehicles used by Imagine!’s Out & About department. The students were hard working and cheerful, and by the end of the day the vehicles sparkled inside and out.

Thanks to Out & About staff member Shannon Oleson for coordinating this effort, Imagine! Transportation Coordinator Dan Fox for sharing the photos below, and most of all the students who gave up their Saturday to keep Imagine! looking nice and clean!