So this week, I thought I’d share a couple of nice stories about the people we serve – stories told by Imagine! employees themselves.
The first story was shared by LeAnne Woodward, Imagine! Case Manager.
I have a great success story. I work with a consumer, Jessie, who has been an Imagine! consumer for years.
She is in her twenties and was born with a physical disability in her legs. Jessie has no femurs and uses a wheelchair to get around. Recently, she started going to physical therapy for pain in her back. While at physical therapy it was determined that part of her pain was due to lack of movement. She worked with her therapist and practiced walking. Jessie had not walked in over six years!!!
She was so excited and proud of herself that she stopped by Imagine! just to show me. Jessie took four steps on her own! She reported to me that she had taken 40 steps while at physical therapy, which is a huge success for her. Jessie has set a new goal for herself to walk at least five hundred steps so that she can finally start roller blading again. I am so very happy for Jessie and can’t wait for her continued progress.
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| Jessie |
Update – I just heard that Jessie took 125 steps yesterday! Way to go!
The second story was shared by Gary Stebick, Imagine!’s Communications Coordinator, about Robert, a resident of Imagine!’s Foothills Group Home in Boulder.
Recently, Robert expressed an interest in being in Imagine!’s newsletter, but he wasn’t sure what he had to do to be featured in the newsletter. He mentioned that he liked art, and said he had a picture that he drew in high school that might be of interest to people who read the newsletter. Robert proceeded to discuss the process of how he decided what to draw in his art piece.
Robert‘s art teacher in high school suggested that Robert find some pictures that he liked in magazines and use them for models for different parts of his art piece. Robert started by choosing to draw the picture with charcoal and pencil. He saw a picture of mountains that he liked, so mountains were the first thing he drew. Then he drew the large ship, fashioned after a large ship he saw in a photo. Then he found a photo of a man in a rowboat which he liked so he drew a man in a rowboat next. As he continued looking through magazines, he saw a picture of a helicopter and decided to put a helicopter into his drawing. Finally, since there were two ships in the picture, he added the ocean, and that’s how he came to draw this piece of art.
Robert’s interest in art began when he was a child drawing in coloring books. Navy blue is his favorite color, and he enjoys drawing animals. When asked what he likes to do, Robert replied, “I like to help people.”
The piece of art shown below has great sentimental value to Robert. He wrapped the picture and gave it to his grandfather as a present, but his grandfather died unexpectedly soon afterwards. Robert’s grandmother knew the artwork was special to Robert and she returned it to him to serve as a reminder of his grandfather, a former Marine whose picture hangs on Robert’s wall near his artwork.
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| Robert's art |
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| Robert |
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