Thanks Colette

Today I’d like to bid a fond farewell to Colette Marie, who is leaving Imagine! to pursue new opportunities in the Pacific northwest.

There is no measuring stick large enough that can capture Colette’s impact on Imagine!. In her 30 plus years at Imagine!, Colette worked for both our community employment and for our residential programs, and when parents challenged Imagine! to create a community-based program for school aged children outside of what the school districts were providing, Colette stepped up to the plate and built Imagine!’s Out & About program from scratch. Out & About remains a unique program in our state, and the many families, children, and adults who have learned life changing skills through the program have Colette to thank for that opportunity.

I share this news with mixed feelings because while I am happy that Colette is moving into the next phase of her life and comfortable in the knowledge that the difference she has made in the lives of local citizens with intellectual and developmental disabilities is enormous, I am sad that she is leaving, because her strength, grace, intelligence, humor, and commitment to our organization and the people we serve will be sorely missed.

Thank you, Colette, for all that you have done for Imagine!, and good luck!

To learn more about Colette’s contributions to Imagine! and the birth of Out & About, click here.

If you'd like to pay it forward and make a donation in honor of Colette to support Out & About, click here.

And check out this video to hear from Colette and one family whose lives were made better by her work: