SmartHome Artists On Display at Dairy Center for the Arts

This Friday, June 1, at the Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St. in Boulder, 5:30 - 7:00 PM, there is an art show opening featuring art created by those served by Imagine!, including Imagine! SmartHome residents. Then from 7:00 - 8:00 PM is a theater performance by Imagine! consumer – once again including SmartHome residents. Even if you can’t make the show, the art will be on view until June 15.

Below is a sneak peek at some of the SmartHome residents’ art!

Artist: Shelly

Artist: Gerald

Artist: Lana

Artist: Toby

Artist: Gerald

Artist: Shelly

Artist: Gerald

Check Out The Latest SmartHomes Newsletter

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

Thank You, Kenneth King Foundation

Kenneth King

Today, we’d like to offer our thanks to the Kenneth King Foundation for its recent grant of $5,000 in support of the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome.

The Kenneth King Foundation is a private foundation founded by Kenneth Kendal King in 1990. The King Foundation, located in Denver, Colorado, was established to perpetuate and expand the eleemosynary principles that Kenneth King developed in his lifetime of helping those less fortunate than himself. Today, the King Foundation continues to focus on helping those in need by doing the common thing in an uncommon way.

The King Foundation’s donation will support one of Imagine!’s most ambitious projects. Over the past five years, Imagine! has built, and is currently operating, two SmartHomes. Imagine!’s SmartHomes provide permanent affordable housing for individuals with physical and developmental disabilities, and they incorporate cutting edge technologies to improve the quality and efficiency of services and supports for the residents.

As the first such homes in the nation, Imagine!’s SmartHomes are serving as a model for the future of residential care for people with developmental disabilities. They enhance the lives and independence of residents, augment the effectiveness of staff as caregivers, and provide cost and energy savings to Imagine!.

In addition, the SmartHome model has enormous potential to impact groups of people with related concerns (dementia, autism, chronic mental illness, and Alzheimer’s), as the homes are serving as living laboratories to create and test “SmartSupports” – assistive technologies that can be used in family homes to keep individuals with any kind of cognitive impairment living in their own homes for as long as possible.

This is not the first time the Kenneth King Foundation has supported Imagine!’s SmartHomes project. In 2011, they also provided a $5,000 grant for the SmartHomes.

Thank you, Kenneth King Foundation, for your support of some of our community’s most vulnerable citizens.

Variety Pack

In advance of the holiday weekend, today we figured we’d just share a variety of pictures of SmartHome residents engaging with their friends and enjoying life. Check out the captions to learn more, and have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Donna and Gerald danced the night away at “Hollywood on 4th Street” – a Hollywood themed dance for adults in the Northern Colorado community with developmental disabilities put on by our good friends at Colorado LifeSharing.

John and Rebecca strike a pose at “Hollywood on 4th Street” – a Hollywood themed dance for adults in the Northern Colorado community with developmental disabilities put on by our good friends at Colorado LifeSharing. Rebecca won the dance contest.



Anthony’s smile is contagious.



Wes loves hanging out with his friends.

Donna and Gerald doing some painting together out on the patio of the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome in Boulder.

Code 10-16

This picture was taken in Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Gerald’s room. Gerald has a list of police codes taped to the ceiling above his bed. Gerald also has a police scanner (probably related to his admiration for Walker Texas Ranger), so when he hears a police code transmitted over the scanner he can read what the number is referring to. Not only is this fun for Gerald, it is a great way for him to practice his literacy skills and number recognition. So be careful – next time you see Gerald he may test you by asking you what a Code 10-16 is!

Don’t Miss the 2012 AT Expo: Technology for Living and Learning

Do you live in the Denver area and are interested in learning more about assistive technology? Our good friends at Assistive Technology Partners are hosting the “2012 AT Expo: Technology for Living and Learning” on Sunday, June 3, in Thornton. Details are on the flyer below.

Hope to see you there!

Good Times, Sunny Days

Spring has definitely sprung, and the residents of the Charles Family SmartHome are taking full advantage. Check out these great photos of Anthony and Toby enjoying the sunshine with staff members.

CU Engineering Class Adaptive Equipment Projects Spring 2012 -- Electroluminescent Cube

A group of University of Colorado Engineering students in a 2012 Spring Semester class taught by Associate Professor Melinda Piket-May worked on projects to design adaptive technologies to aid increased independence for some of the individuals Imagine! serves. The video below shows one of those projects, an "Electroluminescent Cube", which can help teach about cause and effect, and enhances the ability for even those with significant disabilities to make their own choices about their environment.



Can’t see the video? Click here.

CU Engineering Class Adaptive Equipment Projects Spring 2012 -- Choice Board

A group of University of Colorado Engineering students in a 2012 Spring Semester class taught by Associate Professor Melinda Piket-May worked on projects to design adaptive technologies to aid increased independence for some of the individuals Imagine! serves. The video below shows one of those projects, a Choice Board, which can help teach about cause and effect, and enhances the ability for even those with significant disabilities to make their own choices about their environment.



Can’t see the video? Click here. 

CU Engineering Class Adaptive Equipment Projects Spring 2012 -- MP3 Player

A group of University of Colorado Engineering students in a 2012 Spring Semester class taught by Associate Professor Melinda Piket-May worked on projects to design adaptive technologies to aid increased independence for some of the individuals Imagine! serves. The video below shows one of those projects, an adapted MP3 player, which can help teach about cause and effect, and enhances the ability for even those with significant disabilities to make their own choices about their environment.



Can’t see the video? Click here. 

CU Engineering Class Adaptive Equipment Projects Spring 2012 -- Light Pillar

A group of University of Colorado Engineering students in a 2012 Spring Semester class taught by Associate Professor Melinda Piket-May worked on projects to design adaptive technologies to aid increased independence for some of the individuals Imagine! serves. The video below shows one of those projects, a simple light pillar, which can help teach about cause and effect, and enhances the ability for even those with significant disabilities to make their own choices about their environment.



Can’t see the video? Click here.

Guess Who's Touring The SmartHomes?

Scheduled to tour the Charles Family SmartHome in Longmont this coming Friday: Pat Sharpe, from Longmont’s Faith Community Lutheran Church. Faith Community Lutheran gave Imagine! a $3000 grant recently for Emergency Funds for Longmont residents with developmental disabilities. Thanks! We hope you have a great tour.

CU Engineering Class Adaptive Equipment Projects Spring 2012 -- Simple Environmental Control Unit

A group of University of Colorado Engineering students in a 2012 Spring Semester class taught by Associate Professor Melinda Piket-May worked on projects to design adaptive technologies to aid increased independence for some of the individuals Imagine! serves. The video below shows one of those projects, a simple environmental control unit, which can help teach about cause and effect, and enhances the ability for even those with significant disabilities to make their own choices about their environment.




Can’t see the video? Click here.

SmartHome Residents Using Skype

One of the goals of Imagine!’s SmartHomes is to increase the ability of those we serve to interact with others in their community. Lately residents in both homes have been using Skype to communicate with friends and loved ones. Here’s a video of residents of both the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome in Boulder and the Charles Family SmartHome in Longmont chatting via Skype. Note Gerald is the one who sets up the call, using his DynaVox communication device.




Can’t see the video? Click here.

Wes’s Birthday Party

Check out these pictures from Charles Family SmartHome resident Wes’s birthday party. What’s super cool about these pics? If you look closely, you can see that Wes is using his simple switch attached to his wheelchair to turn on a device that pumps out air. He used this to blow out the candles on his birthday cake. It’s the little things like the ability to blow out your own birthday candles that mean a lot when it comes to independence and self-esteem. Way to go, Wes!

CU Engineering Class Adaptive Equipment Projects Spring 2012 -- Vibe Chair

A group of University of Colorado Engineering students in a 2012 Spring Semester class taught by Associate Professor Melinda Piket-May worked on projects to design adaptive technologies to aid increased independence for some of the individuals Imagine! serves. The video below shows one of those projects, a "Vibe Chair," which allows a woman with cystic fibrosis to control a vibrating system set up to her wheelchair, which helps break up fluid in her lungs. It also provides assistance in learning cause and effect lessons.

 

 Can’t see the video? Click here.

CU Engineering Class Adaptive Equipment Projects Spring 2012 – Wheel of Fortune

A group of University of Colorado Engineering students in a 2012 Spring Semester class taught by Associate Professor Melinda Piket-May worked on projects to design adaptive technologies to aid increased independence for some of the individuals Imagine! serves. The video below shows one of those projects, a “Wheel of Fortune” board, which can help teach about cause and effect, math skills, numbers, money, and turn taking.

 

Can’t see the video? Click here. 

Chris’s Birthday Party

Last week, Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Chris enjoyed a birthday party with his friends and housemates. Enjoy the pictures!

Happy Birthday, Wes!

Wishing the happiest of birthdays to Charles Family SmartHome resident Wes. Make it a great one, Wes!

SmartHomes In The News

The latest edition of “Apostrophe” magazine, written by and for individuals with developmental disabilities, has a nice letter to the editor from Imagine! SmartHomes PR guy Fred Hobbs. Check it out – and don’tmiss all the great and useful articles and info!  

Happy Birthday, Chris!

Wishing the happiest of birthdays to Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Chris. Make it a great one, Chris!

Congratulations, Claudette

Congratulations are in order for Claudette Moloney, who works at the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome in Boulder, for being selected as the May 2012 winner of the Imagine! Excellence in Customer Service Award. In the photo, Claudette (right) receives her Excellence in Customer Service award from her supervisor, Chantelle Tweten, Site Supervisor at the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome in Boulder.

Claudette was enthusiastically nominated for this award by some of her co-workers. Here are a few examples of what they said in the nomination to indicate how worthy of a candidate Claudette was for the award:

“In her efforts to provide supports to consumers based on their interests, Claudette has identified a need for a program that will allow for the residents at both the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome and the Foothills Group Home to participate in a pen pal program. This will both meet the large desire at the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome for increasing literacy skills, and will also address their interest in card making. Claudette has independently researched funding for letter and postage supplies, and has applied for a grant. In doing so, she has met with the consumers at both homes to write the letter for this grant with them, and utilized math skills with one of our residents at the SmartHome to come up with a dollar amount that would support this project.”

“Claudette understands the Person Centered approach to caregiving that is so essential to everything Imagine! does. She takes the time to get to know each consumer she works with and tailors her care and activities to that person.” 

“Claudette has shown through consistent planning her confidence about the successful outcome of a goal. Claudette prepares activities beforehand that are consumer specific and fun for each shift she works.” 

And those are only a few of the many comments made in her nomination! Congratulations, Claudette, on this well deserved award. You are a great example of Imagine!’s customer service values in action.