The Colorado Center for the Blind students, staff and seniors were deep into the holiday spirit for the final three weeks before the holiday break. We all wish the happiest of holidays to all in our CCB family!

Even as this was being written, our Martial Arts teacher from ATA Karate Denver, Rachel, delivered a box of cookies and home-baked breads for everyone! She nearly had to remind everyone that those martial arts moves she taught them were for self-defense, not for fighting your way to the front of the line.

There was excitement in the Senior Resource Room this morning as Senior Services Director Duncan Larsen met with a reconstituted Senior Team. Joining her and Anahit LaBarre were Carina Orozco and Chris Parsons, who are filling the two positions left open by the departures of Chris Kinney and Wayne Marshall earlier this fall. Both women are graduates of our Independence Training Program (ITP) and have been teaching at the Center for several years.

“I’m really excited,” Duncan said after the meeting. “With our new team we’re going to work on new initiatives, reaching out to more Spanish-speaking seniors and doing more multi-generational activities.”

These are the faces of just a few who have benefitted from previous Colorado Gives Day donations. They range from ages 5 and up and their circumstances are all a bit different, but all have gained the skills and the confidence to “Take Charge with Self-reliance!”

This year our Confidence Camp for Kids (CC4K) had 11 elementary school kids for this two-week day-camp. They worked on Braille and cane skills all the time, but also learned to make their own lunches, traveled on the light rail and bus, went canoeing and rock climbing, and gained a peer group of other blind kids.

Our elf encourages you to give a gift that lasts all year for Colorado Gives Day – set up a recurring monthly donation. It’s less pain for you and more gain for our students in their pursuit of independence and self-reliance! And by setting up a recurring donation on Dec. 4, the whole year’s total is eligible for a percentage of the $1 Million Incentive Fund from First Bank and the Community First Foundation. And thanks!

This year, Susan says she’s thankful for her husband as always, but also for the Colorado Center for the Blind. She’s been attending Senior support groups at the Center twice a week for only a month.

“My rock” is how she describes her husband and his support for her. “When I get home, he’s going to ask me about all that happened at the Center today.”

Susan began to lose vision to Macular Degeneration in early 2016, and was declared legally blind last June. She is right in the middle of learning to live with her vision loss, and knows that process is not all smiles and triumphs. Along with that, she has been recovering from a series of surgeries for a completely different medical issue.

“But when I come in the door here, I feel happy,” she says,” no matter how hard a day I’m having.”

Our students really dig in at the Colorado Center for the Blind. We don’t simply teach rote skills, but nurture the confidence and curiosity in our students to continue to problem-solve and learn new skills. That’s how they learn to “Take charge with confidence” so they can live their lives in pursuit of their dreams instead of always following a pre-planned, memorized route. If you only follow memorized routes, you’ll only go to where you’ve already been.

Please support our students and our programs on Colorado Gives Day, Tuesday, Dec. 4!

It may be the best yet! This year’s “Shared Visions” tactile art exhibit at the Colorado Gallery of the Arts at Arapahoe Community College (ACC) featured even more tactile painting pieces, a series of “boxes” from another class that were in every instance surprising, as well as an installation of an idyllic natural setting, complete with a trickling spring.

It’s the fifth year that we’ve collaborated with Arapahoe Community College’s Art & Design Center, and the fourth year our students had some of their own work on display.

The best news is that it’s open till Monday, December 3! In fact, this Friday our Senior Program will be making a pilgrimage to see it.

A year-and-a-half ago in Kansas City, Loren was on his family’s front porch after church when he was struck in the face by a bullet. He’d been caught in the crossfire of a shooting that had nothing to do with him, but his life changed forever. About to graduate from high school, Loren had been talking with a recruiter and was eager to join the marines. After extensive medical care, managing to finish high school and some initial blindness rehabilitation, Loren arrived at the center in late January for nine months of our intensive, comprehensive training.

Are you interested in learning about advocacy and legislation?

Would you like to meet Colorado’s U.S. Senators and Representatives?

Wouldn’t it be fun to travel to our nation’s Capital with dynamic blind leaders?

Take advantage of this great opportunity! Apply for a scholarship offered by the Colorado Center for the blind youth program.

Event: Washington Seminar, an event of the National Federation of the blind

Dates: Sunday January 27 to Wednesday January 30, 2019

Scholarship includes: airfare to Washington DC, lodging at the Capitol Holiday Inn and a food allowance. Chaperones from the Colorado Center for the Blind will be with each student.

Ho! Ho! Ho! Don’t miss our Holiday Party on Saturday, Dec. 15, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Colorado Center for the Blind! CCB’s FAST program is teaming up once again with the NFB of Denver Chapter for this event, which will include gift-wrapping for the kids, holiday arts and crafts, and a visit from our blind Santa. He may have gifts for the kids, too!

We’ll serve lunch and cider and perhaps sing a few rounds of carols before the day is done! So, make sure it’s on your Holiday Calendar!