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!!!!