Santa Fe Group Home Site Progress!

Below are the latest pictures of the progress we are making on our new Santa Fe Group Home in Broomfield.  Due to the location of our property, we needed to build an asphalt road to our property to allow for construction and fire trucks to access the land.  Now that this phase is complete, we can move full steam ahead on going vertical with our building.  We will continue to update the blog with pictures as we go forward with our construction through the winter.

Our new driveway, looking out towards our property

Our new driveway, looking back towards the main street

The parking area and ramps for the home

Excavation for the foundation and basement

Waterline trench for the home

The Rights of People with Cognitive Disabilities to Technology and Information Access

Technology benefits people with disabilities in numerous ways.  Advances in wheelchair technology such as power chairs and standing wheelchairs have given people with disabilities more mobility and a more normalized experience.  Communication devices such as DynaVoxes and various Apps have helped people with disabilities communicate in ways they never could before.  Technology such as remote monitoring and systems that allow individuals to track their task completion reduce the need for staff support, and allow individuals to live more independently.  Our SmartHomes are a testament to our passion about the power of technology to improve the lives of people with disabilities.  The two SmartHomes function as a living lab to develop and personalize new technologies that directly benefit the people living in these homes, and have the potential to benefit many other people in the future.

This week, the Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities at the University of Colorado issued a declaration titled The Rights of People with Cognitive Disabilities to Technology and Information Access.  The purpose of this declaration is to publicly state that we believe that access to technology and information should be a right for all people with disabilities.  Please click here to read the declaration, and consider endorsing it yourself to show your support on this important issue!

Government Shutdown: Effects for People with Disabilities

Today marks the first time in the past 17 years that we have had a shutdown of the federal government.  I'm sure some of you are wondering what effects this will have for people with disabilities.  Many of the government programs and services that benefit people with disabilities will be affected in one form or another.

Click here to read a post that went up today on the news service Disability Scoop that highlights the specific programs that benefit people with disabilities that will be affected by the shutdown.