Donna and Gerald – Community Leaders!

Our goal at Imagine! and for our SmartHomes is to provide the individuals we serve with opportunities to become contributing members of their communities. But we know that many of the folks that receive services from us can do so much more – they have tremendous capabilities to become leaders in their communities.

Today, we’d like to share an example of that leadership. Yesterday, Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome residents (and super-cute couple) Donna and Gerald were guest lecturers at two classes at Metropolitan State College of Denver. The classes were for students who were studying to be Special Education teachers.

Gerald and Donna talked about their experiences growing up, what sort of education they received, and of course, discussed living in the SmartHomes and the variety of technologies they were using to become more independent. The students got to see an example of that technology first hand, as Gerald used his DynaVox communication device to share his thoughts and ideas.

The two lecturers were a big hit. Dianne Carroll, a member of Imagine!’s Board of Directors, and the professor who arranged for Donna and Gerald to speak, sent this nice note of thanks (Andrew is the SmartHome support staff member who assisted Donna and Gerald during their lectures):

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!! Donna, Gerald and Andrew were a huge success. My students thought the information was terrific, and the faculty who came to observe had great comments too.

Congratulations to Donna and Gerald – you two are truly inspirational leaders in our communities!