SmartHome Artists Work On Display Nationally

Imagine!’s Dream Rocket quilt, created by artists in Imagine!'s CORE/Labor Source art classes (including people living in Imagine!’s SmartHomes), has been on the move again, having been displayed at the Sump Memorial Library Show in Papillion, Nebraska. 28 pieces of art were chosen for the show, which ran from June 1 – July 31.

Pictured with Imagine!’s Dream Rocket Quilt below are SmartHome residents Rebecca and Gerald.

Below is a list of other locations that the quilt has been on display since it was completed in December, 2009.

• Great Explorations Children’s Museum Exhibit in St. Petersburg, Florida, from May 1- August 1, 2010
• Warren County Public Library in Bowling Green, Kentucky, from August 1 - October 1, 2010
• Randolph School Exhibit in Huntsville, Alabama, from November 1, 2010 - January 1, 2011
• Tallahassee Museum Show in Tallahassee, Florida from February 1 – April 3, 2011
• Atlanta-Fulton Public Library in Atlanta, Georgia from August 1 - September 30, 2011
• 2012 National Art Education Association Conference, at the Hilton Hotel, New York City from March 1 – 4, 2012

Jennifer Marsh, the Director of the International Fiber Collaborative, wrote that as of July, 2012, there have been 1,018 pieces of art sent to the Dream Rocket Project, with art sent in from 515 cities, 49 states, and 12 countries. The monumental project is scheduled to wrap a 37-story Saturn V Moon Rocket at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, with one of the world’s largest quilts, in May, 2014. Learn more about Imagine!’s Dream Rocket quilt by visiting the Dream Rocket Project’s website.

Guess Who’s Touring The SmartHomes

On Wednesday, August 22, senior staff members from our good friends at Developmental Pathways are scheduled to tour the Charles Family SmartHome in Longmont. 

Developmental Pathways is one of Colorado's 20 Community Centered Boards (CCB) serving Arapahoe and Douglas Counties and the City of Aurora. As a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, we serve thousands of people with developmental disabilities and their families in a variety of settings and services, depending on need.

Developmental Pathways is a Colorado non-profit agency created to serve persons with developmental disabilities and their families. It was established in 1964 as a community-based alternative to institutional care. Since that time, Pathways has developed a broad array of services based on the principle that full inclusion and participation in community life is attainable for every individual with a developmental disability. Developmental Pathways serves citizens of Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, and the portion of Adams County within the City of Aurora city limits.

We’re looking forward to it!

Check Out The Latest SmartHome Newsletter

Imagine!’s latest SmartHome newsletter is available online. Take a look.

University of Wyoming SmartHome Tour

Yesterday, representatives from the University of Wyoming and the Wyoming Institute for Disabilities toured the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome in Boulder. Here’s a couple of pictures from their visit.

Greg Wellems gives the story of the SmartHomes.

CaraSolva's Geoff Cooper discusses online medication prompting and tracking systems.

Guess Who’s Touring The SmartHomes

The SmartHome team is excited to be spending the day with many representatives from the University of Wyoming and the Wyoming Institute for Disabilities, discussing technology use in serving individuals with developmental disabilities and exploring opportunities for collaboration. Thanks to Sandy Root-Elledge from the Wyoming Institute for Disabilities for helping to coordinate the meeting.

The visit will include a comprehensive tour of the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome in Boulder, lunch at The Hungry Toad (a longtime employer of individuals served by Imagine!), and then breakout discussions on topics including remote monitoring, tele-health, online learning systems, and other technologies that have the potential to improve the efficiency and the effectiveness of services.

Welcome to our neighbors from the north! We’re pleased to have you here.

SmartHome Residents Testing Prompting Systems

Several residents of Imagine!'s Bob and Judy SmartHome (and others served by Imagine!) are helping to test some task prompting systems that may assist individuals with developmental disabilities in gaining and keeping meaningful employment. The residents have teamed with the engineering team at Assistive Technology Partners (AT Partners) to test an innovative project funded by the National Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) as part of the RERC-Workplace Accommodations Grant. This project is exploring the use of two different task prompting systems that could aid an individual with a disability in successfully performing assembly line tasks. Task prompting is similar to creating a check list to make sure the proper steps are being performed in the correct order for a given task. In this video, Michael Melonis from AT Partners and Dr. Alex Mihailidis from the University of Toronto explain the process in further detail.



Can’t see the video? Click here.

Gardening SmartHome Style

Residents of the Charles Family SmartHome in Longmont are doing some of their own gardening. They are growing tomatoes and herbs. Check out this picture of Sarah in action!

Save The Date! Coleman Institute Annual Conference Nov. 2

On November 2, 2012 the Coleman Institute will host its twelfth annual conference on cognitive disability and technology. The theme, "State of the States in Cognitive Disability and Technology: 2012," will cover an annual review of the state of the economy, the state of federal disability policy and law, and the state of technology with projections for the future and explorations of impact on quality of life for people with cognitive disabilities.

Learn more and register here.

Lana's Art On Display

Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Lana recently had some artwork of hers hung up at Imagine!’s administrative office.

Looks great, doesn’t it? Way to go, Lana!

Thank You To Our Partners

Imagine!’s SmartHomes project is essentially a community building endeavor. The goal of our SmartHomes is to use technology to provide new opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities to engage in their communities, and we can’t do that without the support of businesses, foundations, government agencies, and individuals who believe in the potential of all. Imagine! is indebted to our many partners on this project.

Click here to see a list of all of Imagine!’s generous SmartHome partners.

White House Honors "Champions of Change"

This is a couple of months old, but still worth sharing. On May 7, the White House presented “Champions of Change” awards to a handful of researchers who have spent considerable time creating wholly new technologies and adapting existing ones such as the Internet, smartphones and cloud computing — to work better for and help improve the lives of those who have disabilities.

Learn more here.

Presentable

SmartHomes guru Greg Wellems and PR guy Fred Hobbs are scheduled to present at the INARF Technology Conference in mid-August.

INARF is the principal membership organization in Indiana representing providers of services to people with disabilities. Our members serve over 60,000 Indiana citizens annually and employ over 14,500 full-time employees. For 34 years, INARF has maintained relationships with governmental agencies responsible for human service programs, promoted networking opportunities for members coordinated quality professional development programs and provided leadership and support in the promotion of quality programs for persons with disabilities.

Greg will be providing the keynote presentation, focusing on how organizations can include technology in their strategic planning by providing a process to “get on top of the technology wave.” Fred will discuss how social media has opened doors for community interaction among individuals regardless of their ability/disability.

Good luck, guys! We know you’ll do great!

Join Imagine! At Best of Boulder Valley Green Buildings Awards Ceremony

Imagine!’s Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome in Boulder is honored to be a finalist in the Colorado Green Building Guild and the Boulder County Business Report Best of Boulder Valley Green Buildings awards. What a great recognition of the efforts we put into making the home environmentally friendly and to meeting our commitment to our community!

Winners in each category (see below) will be announced during the Business Report's annual Green Summit: Blending Business & the Environment, to be held August 7 at the Millennium Harvest House Boulder. We’d love to have you join us! Tickets can be purchased here.

Boulder Valley Green Building Award Categories and Finalists:

Best Adaptive Reuse of an Existing Building
eTown
Ocean First Divers 

Best Educational Facility
Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) Casey Middle School
BVSD - Columbine Elementary
Center for Community - University of Colorado, Boulder 

Best Healthcare (Humans or Animals)
Boulder Community Foothills Hospital
Boulder Valley Women's Health Center
Aspen Meadow Veterinary Specialists       

Best Multi-Residential Building
Imagine!'s Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome 
Williams Village North - University of Colorado Boulder

Cutting Edge
Synergistic Building Technologies
Ocean First Divers

Best Improvement on a Commercial Building
Eco-Products, Inc.
Geological Society of America (GSA)
Ocean First Divers

Best Residential   
1247 Scrub Oak
Hohensee Residence
Plinke Residence
Doub - Solar Harvest

Best Improvement on an Old or Historic Building
Main Street Mat Company 
Colorado Chautauqua Association
Gold Miner Hotel

Best Hospitality
Peaceful Meadows Retreat
Gold Miner Hotel

Congratulations and good luck to all the finalists. We'll see you August 7th!

Check Out Our New QR Code

We’re always looking for new ways to use technology to spread the word about Imagine! and our SmartHomes so more people can become aware of the possibilities technology brings to serving individuals with intellectual disabilities. To that end, check out our new QR code below!

Presentable

On August 7, Imagine! SmartHomes guru Greg Wellems will be presenting on "Organizational Planning for Technology Utilization by Community Services Providers" at the Reinventing Quality 2012 Conference.  

In the fall of 1999, the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services (NASDDDS) was awarded a three-year grant by the federal Administration on Developmental Disabilities to gather and disseminate "best practice" information on individualized, person-centered supports and related quality management activities. This "Reinventing Quality" project was carried out in collaboration with the Research and Training Center on Community Living, one the nation's premier disability research and training centers, and the Human Services Research Institute, a policy research firm specializing in mental health and developmental disabilities issues.

Among the activities supported by this grant was the sponsorship of nationwide conferences to showcase best practices in person-centered supports from across the nation: The Reinventing Quality Conference. The project's funding ended in the fall of 2003, but the annual conferences have continued under the direction of the original project collaborators.

Greg’s presentation will identify strategies and tools that can be used to implement and successfully use various state of the art technologies within organizations that support individuals with disabilities.

Joining Greg on this presentation will be Dr. David Braddock, Executive Director, Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities, and Clayton Lewis, PhD, Consultant, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR).

Good luck, Greg! We know you’ll do great!

Save The Date: ANCOR's 2012 Technology Summit Nov. 3

On November 3, ANCOR's 2012 Technology Summit will focus on the variety of applications available today, how to securely manage the technology to deliver services, best practices and what this means for your organization. At this conference, you will learn how others are funding these initiatives and what lies in the future as providers incorporate technology to streamline their efforts and operate within the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services' emerging guidelines.

For more information or to register, click here.

Guess Who's Touring The SmartHomes

Scheduled to tour Imagine!’s Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome on July 23 – key administrative staff members from Frasier Meadows, a Boulder-based retirement community.

In 1960 the founders of Frasier Meadows avowed that the values of life in all seasons are precious; that the elder years are meant to be lived with meaning and celebration. Frasier Meadows was founded to fulfill that promise. In four decades the campus has grown to include independent living, assisted living, Alzheimer's and skilled nursing care, as well as respite and rehabilitation care.

The leadership at Frasier Meadows recognizes that services designed for individuals with developmental disabilities and services designed for elder individuals have many similarities. By touring the SmartHome, they hope to glean information on how technology can be used to serve both populations, and to explore collaborative opportunites.

We look forward to seeing them on the 23rd!

SmartHome Softball

Charles Family SmartHome in Longmont residents Sarah, Shelly, and Toby are really enjoying their summer softball league. Take a look at some pictures of these talented athletes in action.

John Fixes Dinner

Here’s a nice picture of Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident John  preparing a meal at the house. Note the computer screen in the background – it shows the prompting system John uses to prepare the meal safely (and deliciously).

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July from the SmartHome staff and residents!

Guess Who’s Touring The SmartHome

Thanks to Milton and Camilla Briggs for touring the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome yesterday. Milton and Camilla are from CloseBy Network, a technology company that “provides the information you need to help loved ones live independently in their own homes.”

SmartHome Tourist From Down Under

This past Friday, Leona Stoecker, past president of the Imagine! Foundation and SmartHome supporter extraordinaire, gave a tour of the Charles Family SmartHome in Longmont to Mary Louise Bertram, who was visiting from Australia. You can see pictures from the tour below.

Mary Louise has her own business working with children with special needs, most specifically focusing on communication. She also helps parents advocate for their children. She specializes in working with children with Angelman Syndrome, seizure disorders, and intellectual delays. "It has been incredible to see the growth of the children and see how their growth has impacted my growth," she says.

According to Leona, the tour was incredible. Here’s what she told us in an email afterwards:

“Mary Louise Bertram is an amazing woman. She is in Longmont for two weeks, then will be presenting at seminars all over the country. Upon entering the SmartHome she immediately engaged each of the residents....she will now be on Facebook and blog with Shelley. I have never seen (Charles Family SmartHome resident) Shelly interact so quickly with anyone.

The other amazing part is her vast knowledge of every product and software available. She and (SmartHome tech expert) Christopher Baumgart never stopped sharing information with each other. Mary Louise even went back Sunday morning to speak further with the staff and the residents.”

Leona and many other Longmont residents were first introduced to Mary Louise back in 1996 when she was an exchange student through the Rotary Club in Longmont (some of the information in this post comes from their website).  Thank you, Mary Louise, for taking the tour!