50 Years, 50 Stories - Sandra Parra

Welcome to the 50th story in our “50 Years, 50 Stories” series. I hope you have found the stories to be enlightening. I know I have. Taken as a whole, they really provide an astonishing overview of the depth and breadth of what Imagine! has brought to our community over the past 50 years.

For our 50th installment, we thought we’d take a different route. Rather than sharing another story looking back, I thought it would be nice to look toward the future by sharing a story from a brand new Imagine! employee. Sandra Parra recently joined the Imagine! team as a bilingual Children’s Service Coordinator, and below she shares how she came to Imagine!, and what she would like to do in her new role here.

Thanks Sandra, for sharing, and thanks to all who participated in this ambitious project over the past year. It has been an amazing journey.

Coming To Imagine!

By Sandra Parra

 

Sandra Parra, recently hired as a biligual Children's Service Coordinator at Imagine!.

 

I am very pleased to be working at Imagine! as a bilingual Children’s Service Coordinator.

I come to Imagine! with 17 years of experience working with families and children. I worked for Head Start for ten years, both in Boulder County and in Texas. I began working at Head Start as a teacher and eventually became a mental health facilitator.

My first connection with Imagine! came long before I started working here. I have three children, and when my youngest son was a year old, I noticed he wasn’t using words yet and was worried that he was behind where he should be developmentally. I was referred to Imagine! and met with a Children’s Service Coordinator. She was very nice, and I had a very positive experience working with her.

At one point, I mentioned to the Service Coordinator that my sister-in-law had a developmental disability. She was an adult but couldn’t speak or do much independently. I was amazed to discover that Imagine! had so many programs for adults with developmental disabilities that helped with lifelong learning, and I wanted to be part of that.

I didn’t get that opportunity right away because I moved to Texas for awhile. But eventually I moved back to Boulder County, and now that I am at Imagine! I am excited to have the opportunity to connect with and assist families who are experiencing the same kinds of things I have experienced. My hope is I can do my part to make sure that people with developmental disabilities can have a future, can be part of their community, and can teach us at the same time.