Warm regards,

Doug

The Self-Determination Learning Community will meet on Thursday, July 6 from noon until 1:15 at the office of the State Council on Developmental Disabilities in San Jose, 2580 First Street suite 240. 

While we bide our time watching the distant horizon for a federal waiver, we're working through development of a manual and a code of ethics for Independent Facilitators.  All are welcome.

-Submitted by Doug

Submitted by Doug

In June about half of the office staff, myself included, attended a professional training on Person Centered Thinking. We found our trainers through the  TLCPCP network. During this two-day training we learned some new tools and terminology, as well as met peers in from throughout the greater Bay Area. Attendance included professionals working in a variety of areas throughout the greater field of care work for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The concepts, practices, and ideals those tools and terms embodied, I am proud to say, have been central to Imagine's work for at least as long as the five years I have been working here. In fact, how Imagine's person-centeredness was articulated online and by friends working here was what made Imagine really stand out to me among similar organizations in the area. I look forward to the effects of having more shared language with colleagues employing these practices.

The training offered some excellent tools for communication between the many diverse participants in a client's life. We do already have some similar tools, but it's great to have more. These tools and the terminology they use can open up channels for navigating how we each bring to the table different expertise, backgrounds, and points of connection, as well as how there are things each of us can't see from our own perspective. Good tools for communicating through all these differences are key in making sure our clients stay at the center of any of our many meetings, correspondences, etc. 

By the end of the training, I was most struck by just how uncommon person-centered thinking and practices were for most of the attendees - despite genuine investment in the work and sometimes years of experience. What this tells me is that there is tremendous room for growth in Imagine's role as leader and model in this field. Imagine's Incubator project won't only be increasing access to needed supports, but it will be doing so while also spreading a methodology that can be uniquely empowering to folks with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as the communities that support them.

-Submitted by  Alexis

Imagine will be hosting our 6th annual Film Festival on Thursday, October 5th. We will be accepting short films to consider for this festival. We will consider all films that are by, about, or feature individuals with developmental disabilities living in our community, telling their story.

This year, we are especially interested in films that explore solidarity among socially vulnerable people. Each of us and our communities live at intersections of vulnerability and strength. Examples of potential sources of social vulnerability (or strength) include but are not limited to religion, immigration status, race, financial status, sexuality, and other non-developmental forms of disability. There are many more, and any of these may overlap. We would like our program to include several examples of people with developmental disabilities finding, generating, or needing support with others who are also vulnerable and strong in their own ways.

All films must be submitted to Imagine by August 15, 2016.

Please feel free to forward this information to anyone that might be interested in submitting a film. If you have any questions, please email  Patty or call her at 831-464-8355 ext. 2

We have room for more sponsors, too.  If you or someone you know would like to be partnered with Imagine in this project, please write to Doug or Patty. Basic information about supporting and sponsoring our film festival is here.

-Submitted by  Patty & Alexis

The board of Directors for Imagine is in the process of setting their meeting dates for the new fiscal year.  We will post the dates once they are set.

Our IRS filing (Form 990) for the fiscal year that ended June of last year is now available on our website. You can also read the independent auditor's report for the same year.  

Some key findings.  For the third year in a row, we ran a deficit in that fiscal year, although a much smaller one than in the two preceding years. While we were in deficit, our General and Administrative overhead costs fell below 8% of total spending. The ratio of fundraising costs to revenue has fallen to 1/3.  Although the books are not yet closed on the fiscal year that ended yesterday, we anticipate the deficit to be the only one of those trends to reverse. We are confident that fundraising costs declined, General & Administrative costs fell as a portion of spending, and that the just ended fiscal year produced a surplus right in the 2-5% of revenue range we target.

We're thankful for the independent staff, faithful clients, and supportive friends and families that made navigating our path the last few years do-able.  

-Submitted by  Doug

Sophie enjoying a few of her favorite things...

-Submitted by Cherice