Renovation Nation SmartHome Episode

For those of you who were not able to catch the recent airing of “Renovation Nation” featuring the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome, here’s the episode below. Watch Sterling take a ride on an adjustable counter top, learn why it is important to have level floor tiles in a home for people in wheelchairs, and see how Mandy charms the entire Renovation Nation.

Donna's Diary - November

Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Donna Fairchild has been writing an online diary about her experiences living in a technologically advanced home. She has seen a lot of visitors come by to check out the home. She has a surprising answer to the question of what piece of technology has impressed visitors most. Check out her diary below. To see more of her diary entries, click here.

And check out this pic of Donna as she painted pumpkins for Halloween. She's a pretty good pumpkin painter!

Well, my life has slowed down a bit in the past two months and that’s fine with me. Between moving into the SmartHome and getting married I got a little worn out. Don’t get me wrong, these were two of the best things that happened to me in my life, it’s just that now I can enjoy myself and not worry about how things are going to turn out. One of the other things that has been really good in my life is that Gerald is talking more than he used to. He keeps making more and more progress and that really tickles me.

The past few weeks I’ve been able to spend time with some old friends, especially my three housemates from the 18th Street PCA (the Station) and some of the staff from there too. Sometimes Christian (one of the staff from 18 th Street PCA) brings his beautiful baby girl to the SmartHome and it’s delightful to see her. You wouldn’t believe such a little kid would recognize someone but the other day she waved at me. It made me happy because you never know how kids are going to react to a person in a wheelchair.

It’s kind of funny when people visit the SmartHome, and with all the different technology that’s here the one thing they all sure are impressed with is the size of our TV. I guess it’s something that everyone can relate to. I’m getting to know my housemates better all the time, and even though we don’t agree on everything, we make it work out and I love being here.

Learn More About the Charles SmartHome Residents

Want to know a little more about the people living in the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome? Visit our residents page on the SmartHome website.

Thanks To Our Government Partners

One thing we’ve learned during the process of developing our SmartHomes, and indeed in the 43 years that we have been providing services to people with developmental disabilities in Boulder and Broomfield counties, is that we can’t do it alone.

Federal, state, and local governments are all partnering with us as we continue the construction process on our Longmont SmartHome. We are so grateful to the US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Colorado Division of Housing, and the City of Longmont for their willingness to partner with us as we explore new ways of providing services for individuals with developmental disabilities.

Thanks to our government partners: we couldn’t do it without you!

Longmont SmartHome Construction Update

Wow. The folks at Golden Triangle Construction are fast! They have come so far in just a few short months - the walls and roof are up and they are ahead of schedule. It looks great already!

Check out the latest construction photos here.

Charles Home Residents Work Hard and Contribute

The residents of the Bob and Charles SmartHome don’t just play on computers every day. Most of them have jobs or volunteer their time, earning money (and self esteem), paying taxes, and contributing to the community.

So what do the residents do? Chris works at Imagine!. Donna has a part time job and is a member of Imagine!’s board of directors. Gerald volunteers at the Humane Society. John works a variety of jobs in the community and spends a few hours each week at the retirement home down the street eating lunch and spending time with some of the residents. Lana works at the Walnut Brewery. Mandy loves painting pottery from time to time and enjoys giving her pieces away as gifts. Rae works at King Soopers. And Rebecca has done work for the City of Boulder.

The technology in the Charles SmartHome provides the residents easier access to their community so they can attend their jobs or volunteer to help others. But the technology wouldn’t matter if the residents weren’t all dedicated, hard working individuals determined to be part of the community at large in a meaningful way.

And for that, we salute them.

Spreading the Word

Imagine!’s SmartHome project continues to attract attention locally, nationally, and even internationally (did you know that we were recently awarded $25K by the Charles Evans Hughes Memorial Foundation to start an international campaign with a goal of provision of cost-effective services for individuals with developmental and related disabilities in the developing world?).

The SmartHome team has worked hard to share our knowledge with other organizations that are interested in discovering real, sustainable solutions to the crisis facing our nation’s current caregiver crisis.

Some very recent examples: yesterday, several members of the SmartHome team attended the 9th Annual Coleman Institute Conference. The conference had a theme of “Cognitive Disability, Inequality, and Technology in an Age of Economic Uncertainty" and the SmartHome was featured prominently throughout the conference. We also had an information booth at the conference poster session.

The folks at the Coleman Institute also collaborated with ANCOR, who scheduled their first ever Technology Leadership Summit for today, so conference attendees could attend the summit as well.

SmartHome guru Greg Wellems is giving the keynote address to summit attendees this morning, and this afternoon the group will tour the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome to see first hand how technology is impacting the lives of individuals with developmental and cognitive disabilities.

Charles SmartHome on National TV Nov. 13

Imagine!’s SmartHomes project continues to attract attention for its creative and unique approach to providing high quality and cost efficient services for individuals with developmental disabilities.

That trend continues with some impressive national exposure coming up! The Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome will be featured on TV’s Renovation Nation next Friday, November 13, on the Planet Green Network.

Host Steve Thomas visited the home last spring during construction and worked on several green projects for the home, all while the cameras were rolling.

Even more exciting, Steve met and interviewed Charles home resident Mandy Kretsch. Mandy was a star! Even before she was living in the home, she was demonstrating what a great ambassador she would be for the home.

Check your local listings for the time the show is running. You can even have an email reminder sent to you through the Planet Green website so you don’t forget!

Be sure to watch. This is a great opportunity for us to show a much wider audience the kind of innovative thinking and positive results that are taking place.