Innovations Fall Formal Fundraising

At Innovations, we strive to give individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities the opportunity to participate in fun, uplifting activities.  Most of the time we support and encourage people to attend rewarding events in the community.  However, sometimes we find that there is a strong interest for a particular kind of event that is either not offered in the community, or not made accessible to the people we serve.  Specifically, we found that the people we work with wanted to have a formal event where they could dress to the nines and interact with their peers in a supportive environment that would allow them to express themselves while ensuring all of their needs were met.  Last year, we decided to hold our first Fall Formal event here at Innovations, and it was an incredible success!  

Last year's event was such a success that we decided to do it again this year, and will be hosting our second annual Innovations Fall Formal on October 23rd, 2015.  In order to make this event as spectacular as possible we have launched a crowdfunding campaign, and would love your support!  Please donate what you can, and share the link below with your friends and family through social media.  Our goal is to raise $1500 in 30 days, and we need everyone's support to get the word out and help make this Fall Formal a truly special event for the people we serve.  Thanks in advance for your help!

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/innovations-fall-formal#/story

Happy Direct Support Professionals Week!

Here at Innovations, we are proud of the supports we provide to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and we rightly give the individuals we serve most of the credit for their accomplishments.  However, our purpose as service agency is to provide assistance to the people we serve to help them achieve their goals and maintain their health and safety.  This assistance would not be possible without a very important group of people.

This week we would like to take a moment and honor the people who work day in and day out to provide those services: our direct support professionals (DSPs).  Our DSPs help the individuals we serve to lead fulfilling lives by doing the challenging work of helping them where they need assistance, and of supporting them to be as independent as possible.  Some Innovations DSPs are employees, some are contract providers, and some are foster parents.  Some work part time, and some dedicate themselves to be available 24/7.  We have DSPs who are just starting their work in this field, and some who have dedicated their careers to do this work for decades.  

We deeply appreciate the hard work and commitment of our DSPs. To celebrate DSP week, please take a moment to tell a DSP that you value them and their work.  And this and every week, remember that all of the supports we provide are made possible by our heroic DSPs.

Here is the Colorado DSP Week Proclamation, issued our Governor John Hickenlooper:

Super Hero of the Month for August!

Every month, Innovations presents the “Super Hero of the Month” award to the employee or provider who has best demonstrated excellence in one or more of our Innovations Quality Standards:

• Health, Safety, and Wellbeing
• Effective and Efficient
• Respect and Dignity
• Opportunities
• Integrity
• Care

This month, the award was presented to Christie Talkington, who is a Foster Care Placement Worker for our Innovations for Children program.

Christie was nominated by her supervisor, who wrote:

I would like to nominate Christie Talkington. This past month has been very challenging for two of her foster children and involved an investigation, move, safety planning, interaction with caseworkers, schools, guardians, and foster parents.  As soon as things settled down, one of the children had a health crisis and needed emergency care and surgery and Christie coordinated everything, drove all over the metro area, and even spent time at the hospital until midnight with the child so she wouldn’t be alone. It was tough work coordinating all of these crises as well as problem-solving through very tough situations which included helping new foster parents who have other children.  However, through it all she kept her same smile, laughter, and sense of humor.  Christie has done a phenomenal job and she is appreciated!!! These are the things that kids remember, so thank  you! Christie you ROCK!

If you see Christie around, please congratulate her on being our Super Hero of the Month!