Sarah and Wes at the Park

Charles Family SmartHome in Longmont residents Sarah and Wes recently enjoyed a day at the park. The weather was perfect and a good time was had by all. Joining Sarah and Wes were SmartHome staff members Clint and Melissa. Enjoy the pictures!

SmartHome Residents to Rock Out at Millennium FAC June 15

On Friday, June 15, for the 4th consecutive year, Imagine! will be a featured nonprofit at the Millennium Hotel Boulder FAC. The band Soul School will play from around 5:30 - 9:30 PM, and Imagine! will have a tent where attendees are welcomed to paint and draw with Imagine! artists who live in the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome. Check out these pictures from previous Millennium events, and please join us on June 15!

In 2009, Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome residents John and Rae danced to the music of Hazel Miller

 In 2010, internationally renowned sculptor Alonzo Clemons joined us at the Imagine! booth and demonstrated his skill by making this bull in about 20 minutes

2010, lots of kids joined the Imagine! artists to draw and paint

 2010, these girls proudly show their art

2010, Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Rebecca draws with other FAC attendees

 2010, Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Chris poses beside the Steve Thomas Band

 2011, Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Lana showing her art

2011, art at the Imagine! tent



2011, Rebecca is happy with her rainbow



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!