Marguerite Salazar SmartHome Tour

We had a great tour of the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome yesterday with Marguerite Salazar, Regional Director for Region VIII of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Joining Director Salazar were Doyle Forrestal, Regional Outreach Specialist for Region VIII of the US Department of Health and Human Services, and Todd Saliman, from Policy Matters. The tour guides were Imagine! CEO Mark Emery, SmartHomes guru Greg Wellems, SmartHome Project Manager Sterling Wind, and Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome Site Supervisor Chantelle Tweten.

Director Salazar asked some insightful questions, including our favorite question: “How can I help?” The tour guides gave some concrete examples of how she can help champion our goal of using technology to serve some of our most vulnerable citizen, and Director Salazar promised to share information with her boss, US Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.

Thanks for taking a tour, Director Salazar!

A Zolo/SmartHome Thanksgiving

Last week, Dave Query and the Big Red F Restaurant Group hosted a free Thanksgiving Dinner for Imagine! clients and their families at Zolo Southwestern Grill in Boulder.  This is te eighth year he has hosted this event.

Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome residents were on hand to enjoy the meal, seen in the picture below.

The event was once again a huge success. 360 meals were served in three seatings -- turkey, dressing, all the trimmings, pumpkin pie. Donations to Imagine! at the event came to $816, and one generous person left a check for $500. What a great day!

Thanks to Dave, Zolo staff, and all the volunteers for creating another special Thanksgiving for the people Imagine! serves.

Check Out The Latest SmartHome Newsletter

Imagine!’s latest SmartHome newsletter is online. Check it out by clicking here.

And you can sign up to have the newsletter emailed to you every month! Just click here.

Happy Thanksgiving From Chris

A short “Happy Thanksgiving” wish from Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Chris.

Guess Who's Touring The SmartHome?

Another VIP has scheduled a tour of Imagine!’s Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome.

On Saturday, December 3, the SmartHome team is looking forward to welcoming U.S. Senator Mark Udall and to demonstrating the many technologies in the homes that are designed to improve the lives of residents and that one day may be used in individual or family homes to increase independence among people with developmental disabilities.  Thanks, Sen. Udall.

You can be a VIP tourist, too! Click here to sign up online for your own SmartHome tour.

Guess Who's Touring The SmartHomes?

Scheduled to tour Imagine!’s Bob and Judy Charles SmartHomes next week: Patti Micklin, Development Director for our good friends at Special Transit.

How Technology Can Increase Employment Opportunities For Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities

Imagine!’s SmartHomes guru Greg Wellems is currently attending the Alliance for Full Participation’s 2011 Summit. This year’s summit is focusing on employment.

Our experience with our SmartHomes tells us technology has a role in increasing employment opportunities for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Click here to read one such story, about SmartHome resident Gerald, who is using technology to do inventory work and communications work.

The coolest part of the story? A few short years ago Gerald couldn’t read, write, or count to 10! Technology has changed all that, and the opportunities for more stories like Gerald’s are limitless!

Guess Who’s Touring The SmartHome?

We’ve got a VIP scheduled to tour the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome at the end of the month. Marguerite Salazar, Region VIII Regional Director for the US Department of Health and Human Services is planning on touring to see first hand how technology is changing the lives of some of our most vulnerable citizens. Another example of how interest in what we’re doing continues to grow!

Mandy's Short Story - "The Circle of Life"

Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Mandy has been writing original stories and poems for the Imagine! employee newsletter. Check out her latest story, entitled “The Circle of Life”

The Circle of Life

A circle is round. You can make many different kinds of things out of a circle. Circles can be made in many different colors and sizes. You can form a circle out of clay with your hands. After you are done you can put it in the oven and then watch it expand and turn it into a cooking pan. You can put the ingredients in the pan and then wait for it to bake and then it will turn into a chocolate cake. Then you have to let it stand and cool and then we put the frosting on it and decorate it. You can decorate the cake with anything you want.
After the cake is done the kids toss it
in their tummies and they say yum,yum,yum
now we have to run. You can make a ball out of a shape of a circle. You can toss the ball in the air and watch it come back. We hope the ball doesn't hit the wall and make something fall. If the ball bounces, I don't know what it counts as. When the ball hits the ground . It doesn't make a sound and it doesn't weigh a pound. you can make a friendship circle. They can be the hardest ones to deal with at times. Because friends can get pretty close and then in the end you may have to close the door and open a new one.

Tracking New Tracking Systems

In our efforts to improve our location tracking system in our SmartHomes (which we hope will allow us to better document resident activities based upon data collection) we have been meeting with several companies to determine which system will best meet our needs. Late last week, we met with the good folks from Q-Track and Ubisense to learn about their location systems.

We’ll keep you posted!

SmartHomes In The News

The November issue of ANCOR LINKS features a story submitted by SmartHomes project manager Sterling Wind about how, and more importantly, why, Imagine! incorporated green technologies into its SmartHomes – along with data showing that the decision to go green is already paying dividends! Read the story by clicking the link here (p.13).

Way to go, Sterling!

Check Out Donna's Blog

Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Donna just made another blog post. It discusses music, art, poetry, and computers. A true renaissance gal!

So, what Beatles song is she singing in music class? What poet is she reading? How is she becoming more comfortable with using her computer? Guess you’ll have to read her blog to find out.

Click here to check it out.

Interest In SmartHomes Continues To Grow

Imagine!’s two SmartHomes continue to garner national and even international attention. As the first two homes in the nation to use technology in a comprehensive way to enhance the lives of individuals with developmental disabilities, more and more organizations and thought leaders in the field are recognizing that Imagine!’s innovative and forward-thinking SmartHomes can serve as a model for the future of residential care.

Additionally, interested parties are learning how the various technologies, or SmartSupports, being tested and refined in Imagine!’s SmartHomes can offer solutions geared toward allowing individuals with disabilities to live independently, or with their families and loved ones, for longer periods of time.

For example, more than 500 visitors have taken a tour of either the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome in Boulder or the Charles Family SmartHome in Longmont, and many have toured both homes. People taking the tour have come from all across the nation, and as far away as England, France, and Russia. No matter where the visitors are from, they all leave the tours impressed with how technology is improving the lives of some of our community’s most vulnerable citizens. Learn more about the free tours, or sign up to take a tour yourself, by clicking here.

Taking a tour of Imagine!’s SmartHomes isn’t the only way people are learning about this unique and ambitious project, however. SmartHome staff members have been invited by organizations across the country, from Alaska to Washington D.C. (at the World Bank, no less), to present on SmartHomes and SmartSupports at a wide variety of conferences and events. To date, almost 40 presentations have been made by members of the SmartHome team. To learn more about SmartHome presentations, click here.

SmartHome team members have also begun providing consulting services to other organizations looking to incorporate technology into their services. In just the past three months, Imagine! has consulted on technology plans for organizations based in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Maine.

The desire of so many organizations to learn about this project serves as yet another reminder of how Imagine!'s SmartHomes continue to be recognized as an innovative approach to improving clients’ self-sufficiency and ability to engage with the community while optimizing the efficiency and effectiveness of caregivers.

Mandy's Halloween Story

Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Mandy has been writing original stories and poems for the Imagine! employee newsletter, using voice to text technology. Check out her latest story, entitled “The Halloween Adventure!”

The Halloween Adventure

by Mandy

The holidays are upon us. One of the holidays is the last day of October. The kids get to dress in their costumes and have a parade at school. The kids get to have parties in schools too. That meams they get sugar and treats. It's a parents nightmare. The kids come home from school and they are bouncing off the walls. The teachers don't make phone calls. The teachers don't care if the kids swear. Halloween is not over yet. After it turns dark you can only see the stars in the midnight Sky. The only light we had was the light from the moon. We saw a witch on her broom. The kids went door to door and asked for candy.

Happy Halloween! The kids were tired and they went home and went to bed.

Presentable

Imagine! SmartHomes Project Manager Sterling Wind and PR guy Fred Hobbs are scheduled to present at the Council for Exceptional Children 2012 Convention & Expo, April 11-14, on "Using Social Media to Connect, Communicate, and Network Regardless of Ability/Disability."

Hope's Choices

As proud as we at Imagine! are of our SmartHomes, we know that the homes themselves can only serve a very few people. That is why part of the second phase of our SmartHomes project is to test and refine technologies that can be used by other individuals with intellectual, developmental, or related disabilities.

Here's one example of where we've started that effort. In the video Parts One and Two below, Hope, a individual served by Imagine! (but not a SmartHome resident) is using technology to learn the first step in communicating on her own by pushing a button to indicate choices. That may seem simple, but for someone like Hope, who has never had the capability to verbally or physically indicate her preferences to others, the simple act of making his own choice is a profound first step toward independence.

The videos also demonstrate how Imagine! is taking a system-wide approach to implementing technology to improve the lives of those we serve. Part One takes place at Hope’s Group home, a residence that is specifically designed and operated for people with significant developmental and physical disabilities. Part Two takes place at Imagine!’s CORE/Labor Source department, which provides day services for Hope and many others. This helps bridge the learning process between the two services and sets her up for success in a more complete way.

Part One



Can’t see the video? Click here.

Part Two



Can’t see the video? Click here.

Check Out Donna’s Blog

Have you checked out Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Donna’s blog lately? She added a couple of new posts this week – details on how she spent Halloween and a report on her visit to the circus. What did she find funny about the circus? It wasn’t the clowns – so I guess you’ll have to read her blog to find out!

SmartHomes In the News

Imagine!’s SmartHomes guru Greg Wellems is featured in the latest edition of the magazine “ComputerTalk for the Pharmacist” discussing Imagine!’s use of CaraSolva’s MedSupport system in our SmartHomes and in other Imagine! group homes. Check it out here, Greg's on page 34. Way to go, Greg!

Guess Who's Touring The SmartHomes?

Yesterday, we had guests touring the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome from several states. Our guests included Scott Bowling, President and CEO of Exceptional Children's Foundation in California, Jeremy Bramlick from Minnesota, Chris Valcek from Nebraska, Terry Whitworth from California, Allan Pressel, of CharityFinders.com (who joined the tour via Skype), and Chris Valcek from Nebraska.

Are you interested in taking a tour? Click here.