Donna's Diary - May

Interested in learning about how Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome residents Donna and Gerald spent their honeymoon? Then check out Donna’s latest online diary entry below.

And you can see all of Donna’s diary entries here.

Oh my gosh, we sure did lots of fun stuff on our honeymoon. JT Glover and Marie Handlin went with me and Gerald and I think we all had a wonderful time.

We left Friday morning (May 21) and drove straight to Dillon. The first thing we did was check into our room, at the Dam River Hotel. I know that name makes it soundlike I’m cussing, but I’m not. That’s the name of the hotel. They treated us great the entire time we were there. They even opened the doors for us EVERY time we came in and out. I was totally amazed. I’ve never had so many doors opened for me. I was one surprised individual, and Gerald was tickled to death.

After we checked into our room, we went to Dillon Lake to go fishing. Gerald and I brought along our new fishing poles but we didn’t catch anything, we just had a couple nibbles. It’s interesting how those fish can nibble the bait right off the hook and leave the hook bare. We had fun though.

Friday night we had dinner at the hotel restaurant and relaxed in the hotel room. Saturday we went shopping, I bought some clothes I needed, and Gerald bought a fanny pack and a pair of sunglasses.

Sunday, we had a free continental breakfast, cleaned up the hotel room, and headed back. It was a little windy so we took it easy and got back Sunday afternoon. I would have preferred to stay away longer but we needed to get back so I could go to work. It was a wonderful honeymoon, better than I thought it would be. Being in a place you don’t know, you wonder how it’s going to be with the people you meet. It was very pleasant, a great trip.

When we got back to the SmartHome, everyone came out to greet us and carry in our luggage. They were outside before I got off the van lift. Rae came up and gave me a big hug, and it made me feel great that my housemates were glad to have us back home. They even made presents for us, which was tie-die t-shirts. Mandy is having a birthday party on June 6th and we’re all wearing tie-die t-shirts because that’s what she’d like. It was nice to be gone, and it’s nice to be home.

SmartHome In The News/Longmont Dedication

Lat night’s celebration of the dedication of the Charles Family SmartHome in Longmont was a huge success. More than 160 showed up to inaugurate Imagine!’s second home designed to improve the lives of people with developmental disabilities. We’ll post some photos and more information soon, but in the meantime, check out this great story about the event that ran in today’s Longmont Times Call.

Lana at Work

SmartHome residents don’t just play on computers all day. You’ll often run into them working at their jobs, paying taxes, and spending their hard earned money in the community. Check out these pictures of Bob and Judy Charles home resident Lana working at her job at Walnut Brewery, with follow along support from Employment Link.

Ohio Takes The Lead!

With the current system of funding and delivering services to individuals with developmental disabilities appearing to be unsustainable in the future, states around the country are looking for new models, and the SmartHome is serving as a demonstration of what can be.

For example, The State of Ohio is working to incorporate remote monitoring into their funding process, and key decision makers in this effort have looked to our SmartHomes as an example of how it can work. Take a look at what Christina Miller wrote on the SmartHome Facebook page recently, when discussing SmartHome guru Greg Wellems’ presentation to the Ohio Association of County Boards Serving People with Developmental Disabilities:

As part of the team at the State of Ohio working to make Remote Monitoring become a reality as a waiver service, let me say Thank You! We are very excited about the possibilities of this proposed service. Seeing all the things that have been incorporated into the Imagine! SmartHomes definitely assists us in understanding the various types of technology out there.

And Mark Davis, President of The Ohio Providers Resource Association, told us:

We hope to have remote monitoring as an approved waiver service by the end of this year. We're excited about Ohioans with disabilities using this technology to lead fuller, more inclusive lives!

Congratulations to Ohio for taking the lead in looking at new ways of delivering services to some of our country’s most vulnerable citizens. Let’s hope Colorado soon follows suit!

CANDD Tour of Charles Family Home

A couple of weeks ago, members of the Colorado Association of Nurses for the Developmentally Disabled toured the Charles Family SmartHome in Longmont as part of their Spring Education Conference.

Mandy's Birdhouses

Check out Bob and Judy Charles home resident Mandy's birdhouses. She is building them in her CORE/Labor Source classes.

Vote For The SmartHomes!

Vote for the SmartHomes!!!

Imagine!’s SmartHomes project is up for a Community Foundation Serving Boulder County NOVA Award. In the Universe, a nova is a star that suddenly increases in brightness to several times its normal magnitude. The NOVA Award honors innovation in programming or operational excellence within Boulder County’s non-profit sector. The NOVA Awards were established by The Community Foundation in 1997 and will be presented this year at Community Ventures on June 15, 2010. The winning organization (or collaboration of organizations) will receive a beautiful John Haertling plaque and a $5,000 cash award.

To vote, click here, and in the right column rank your top five choices for the organization you think should be recognized with the 2010 NOVA Award. Help us by ranking Imagine! first! The poll will be open May 15-May 31.

Help us get the word out. Tell all your friends!!!!

Charles Family Donates $100K To Longmont SmartHome!

Earlier this week, we received a call from Bob Charles to let us know that his family - he and his wife Judy and their three children, Bob, III and his wife Dianne, Dale, and Janice - will be donating $100,000 to fund the Naming Gift for the Longmont SmartHome. The home will be known at the Charles Family SmartHome. We are extremely grateful to Bob and his family, who have already done so much for Imagine!'s clients. We are overwhelmed by the generosity of this additional gift and the commitment of the Charles family to the people Imagine! serves. What an incredible treasure this family is to our community and indeed to our state, nation, and beyond.

Good news travels fast, and you can see a story about the donation from this morning’s Longmont Times-Call by clicking here.

The Charles family has been incredibly supportive of Imagine! over the years. Robert F. (Bob) Charles, Jr., is the founder of the Imagine! Foundation and was its president for the first three years. In 2008, Bob and Judy pledged $100,000 toward the development of Imagine!’s Boulder SmartHome, which was named the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome in their honor. In 2009, the pair donated a $60,000 gift in honor of Susan LaHoda, the Imagine! Foundation’s Executive Director, also to be directed toward the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome. And showing that the spirit of generosity doesn’t just reside with the parents, the Charles children have now gotten in on the giving act for this latest, incredibly bighearted donation.

To learn a little more about Bob and Judy, check out this video, which was made when they were honored in 2008 as Imagine!’s Donors of the Year.



Bob and Judy, you and your family are amazing. Your generosity is such a motivating factor for everyone associated with Imagine!. Thank you. We will do our best to live up to your inspiration.

International Campaign Update

We mentioned last week that Angelos Pangratis, Chargé d’ Affaires and Acting Head of Delegation of the European Union to the United States, took a tour of the Boulder Charles SmartHome. He was so impressed he wrote about it in his online weekly ambassador’s update! Click here and scroll down to the bottom to see what he said!

Model Behavior

People are looking to us as a model for a new way of providing care! Last week, members of the SmartHomes team spoke with the executive team from Living Resources in Albany, NY, and discussed opportunities for improving tech and telehealth supports in the DD field.

Longmont Landscaping Complete!

Landscaping at the Imagine! Longmont SmartHome is complete. A little more tech integration & we're ready for move in!

Charles Home Art

The already spectacular interior of the Charles SmartHome was recently brightened by the addition of framed art produced by Imagine! consumers who are part of Imagine!’s CORE/Labor Source Adaptive Art class. Take a look at some of the pieces produced by the talented artists!

International Campaign Update

Our International Campaign continues to gain momentum! We had a very high profile visitor tour the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome yesterday.

Angelos Pangratis, Chargé d’ Affaires and Acting Head of Delegation of the European Union to the United States , toured the home and was very engaged throughout the tour, asking tough questions and creating lively discussions.

The visit was facilitated by our friends at the Colorado European Union Center of Excellence.

We are incredibly excited about this opportunity to place our innovative and unique project on an international stage!

By the way, you too can be treated just like an international diplomat and tour the Charles SmartHome. Just click here to schedule a time. And coming soon, tours of the Longmont SmartHome will also be available.

Happy Birthday Chris!

Many happy birthday wishes to Charles SmartHome resident Chris!

SmartHome In The News

The media is certainly interested in our ambitious project. Check out this story in the Longmont Times-Call about our Longmont SmartHome. And look at all the recent media coverage we have had by clicking here.