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.”
Carina has been teaching Braille since April, 2015 and worked in our summer youth program in 2014. She will become the Senior and Student Services Specialist, working with Seniors part of the time as well as doing case management for ITP students. She’s also attending Metro State of Denver part-time, working toward a degree in Social Work. She is a fluent Spanish speaker.
Chris Parsons has been teaching assistive technology in the ITP program since March of 2015. Chris has a degree in English and worked for two years after college as an online writing tutor. She will become the Senior Outreach Specialist, leading support groups and making home visits in an eight-county area.
The positions became vacant when Wayne Marshall left the Center in September after eleven years to move to Georgia to be nearer to his aging mother and other relatives. Chris Kinney worked at the Center for seven years, mostly as Wood Shop & Home Maintenance Instructor before moving to the Senior Outreach position in 2017. He accepted a position with Denver Public Schools in October working with blind youth and is pursuing a master’s degree to become a Teacher of the Visually Impaired.
Carina and Chris Parsons will assume their new positions full-time after the first of the year.