Congratulations, David!

David Braddock speaks after being
awarded the first ever
ANCOR Foundation President's Award

Congratulations are in order for David L. Braddock, a longtime supporter of Imagine!'s SmartHomes, for being honored as the recipient of the first ever ANCOR Foundation President's Award. The award recognizes a person whose contributions to the field of disabilities have uniquely led to leading practice and profound innovation. Presentation of the award was made at the 2013 ANCOR Conference: Because We All Matter on April 28, 2013 in Washington, DC.

David Braddock, Ph.D. is the Coleman-Turner Chair and Professor at Colorado University and the Executive Director of the Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities, with which ANCOR has been a partner for the past four years. He is the author of the important State of the States in Developmental Disabilities monograph series.

"Without David Braddock, our industry would not be where it is today," said Bill Tapp, president of the ANCOR Foundation. "It is very fitting that he receive this honor for his visionary leadership and tireless work toward ensuring the best policies and supports for people with disabilities."

Check Out The Latest SmartHomes Newsletter

The latest Imagine! SmartHomes newsletter is online.

Check it out here.

Gerald’s Yellow Submarine Lunchbox

This blog post came to us via an audio email last Saturday from Gerald, who is a resident at the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome. This was a verbal interview, with one of the counselors interviewing Gerald, rather than Gerald using his Dynavox to communicate. In answering most of the questions, Gerald used one or two word responses, but we have transcribed the post as if Gerald is doing all the speaking since he was active in the conversation.

“Hello. This is Gerald. I had a pretty good day. I went out to the bookstore with my wife, and Mandy. I bought a lunchbox, a yellow submarine lunchbox, a Beatles lunchbox. Bye.”

Check out Gerald, Donna, and the lunchbox in the pictures below.

A Good, But Tiring, Day For Chris

This blog post was sent to us by Christopher via an audio email. Christopher is a resident at the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome in Boulder. Considering what he said, we’re honored that he took the time to send this.

“Hi this is Christopher, I’m ‘calling’ to tell you that my day was good, and I loved it but I’m tired and I’m exhausted so good-bye.”

SmartHomes Update

During the five years since the first Imagine! SmartHome opened, we have:

• Hosted 151 tours and open houses at our SmartHomes, involving more than 1,000 people from all over the United States and countries including Japan, the Netherlands, England, France, Belgium, and Russia.
• Given 46 presentations at conferences across the country.
• Implemented technologies to foster caregiver efficiency.
• Decreased Imagine!’s carbon footprint. (The SmartHomes’ solar photo-voltaic systems have reduced CO2 emissions by approximately 50 tons to date!)
• Enhanced the lives of the individuals living in the SmartHomes who are, because of technology, now able to communicate online with family and friends, hold jobs, blog, and cook a meal, do a load of laundry, or get ready for their day independently!

Plenty to be proud of, but we’re just getting started!

Rebecca's Mask

Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Rebecca recently participated in an art project, decorating masks that will be shown in May at Longmont’s Muse Art Gallery. We’ll give you more details as the show gets closer, but in the meantime, here’s Rebecca showing off her mask.

Guess Who's Touring The SmartHomes?

Scheduled to tour the Charles Family SmartHome in Longmont today: Jaime Bordeaux from I-Reach 2, Inc., a Wyoming-based organization with a mission to “provide high quality, innovative, individualized, therapeutic services to adults with developmental disabilities and brain injuries.”