Take Charge with Confidence and Self-Reliance

Year: 2016

  • Vika’s Monster Route: It’ll Turn Your Hair Blue!

    by

    Dan Burke

    Vika showing her nails

    As students near the end of their program, they must plan and execute a “Monster Route.” Listen to Vika talk about hers. She graduates in a week!

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  • Marcus: Flourishing as an Independent Blind Person

    by

    Dan Burke

    Marcus receives his bell

    “I knew you would flourish here,” Julie Deden said to Marcus at his bell ceremony on February 5. “When you came down from Montana for a tour with your Dad, you were so interested and excited about everything.” Marcus worked as a journeyman electrician in Montana before becoming blind two years ago. He operated his…

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  • Daniel: To Be the Best Blind Guy You Can Be

    by

    Dan Burke

    Daniel smiles and rings his bell

    “You really raised the bar,” Julie Deden said of Daniel’s graduation meal on March 4. “I think this is the biggest grad meal we’ve ever had.” She didn’t mean just the number of guests Daniel served – there were 80 in all – but because he cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner for those 80 guests.…

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  • James Earns His Bell: Moving Forward with His Life

    by

    Dan Burke

    James receives his bell

    James and I talked on the phone for months and months before he came to the Center,” Julie Deden told the 60-plus guests at James’ graduation ceremony on February 12. “And one thing we all know about you now James is that once you have your mind made up you go for it and make…

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  • Jenny’s Bell: Of Brussels Sprouts and Self-determination

    by

    Dan Burke

    Jenny C. ringing her Freedom Bell

    “Jenny is a woman who is very creative and unique, and you may find yourself experiencing things you’ve never experienced before when you spend time with Jenny.” That was Julie Deden’s remark on January 20 as she prepared to present Jenny with her Freedom Bell. It’s very true, because it was elicited by the fact…

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  • I Came to My Future: Vicki

    by

    Dan Burke

    Vicki gives her Freedom Bell a vigorous ring

    “Vicki’s coming out of this ready to go,” observed Robert at Vicki’s graduation on Januray 8, “and the rest of you are going to have to work to keep up.” He was right about that. Vicki came with the intention of squeezing out every last drop of opportunity and learning. “This was a long time…

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  • Penny’s Bell: You Encouraged Me & Wouldn’t Give Up on Me

    by

    Dan Burke

    a woman rings her freedom bell, smiling broadly

    Penny received the first Freedom Bell awarded in 2016 on January 7. The first thing she did after ringing it loud and proud was to thank her husband Rick. “You encouraged me and you wouldn’t give up on me,” she said after serving her grad meal to 60 guests, which included other family members and…

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  • Two Videos with Richie

    by

    Dan Burke

    Richie’s been at the Center in our Independence Training Program for a couple of months now. A former student in our summer youth program, he hit the ground running in January. Here are two videos . The first about his gift to Locks of Love. In the second, he’s on the slopes at Lake Eldora,…

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  • Shelby: Don’t hide Your Lamp Under a Duck’s Nest

    by

    Dan Burke

    a smiling young woman displays her brightly colored ceramic sculpture with a ray of light emerging from one duck's bill

    Monday afternoons our art class meets with our long-time teacher and friend Ann Cunningham to make tactile are pieces from stone, clay, paper or whatever creative fancy strives to take flight. Shelby will graduate next month, and she’s been a fixture in art class since last fall. Here she is `with her latest art project,…

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  • Alyssa’s Mini-meal

    by

    Dan Burke

    Alyssa recently finished her mini-meal. Let her tell you about it.

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