General Colorado Center Information

We expect no less. But it just goes to show that blind people are not afraid to travel in the snow, not even the new ones who come from such warmer states as South Carolina, Georgia and Arizona. Independence doesn’t depend on the weather!

Pictured above is one of our hopeful goose-deterrants. We’re still holding out for a group shot of snow angels. No takers, especially after warnings about goose poop in the snow.

We’re starting 2019 off with a pretty blanket of snow here in Littleton, but warm wishes to all our friends and supporters for a Happy New Year!

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!

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.

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.

Thanksgiving is of course very much a harvest celebration. So it is appropriate that we invited our Master Gardeners to the center for a little thank-you celebration Tuesday morning. After all, our collaboration with them in our Legacy Garden each summer results in a wonderful harvest of tomatoes, peppers, herbs and squashes, to name a few, but also in a harvest of opportunity and confidence for our students.

While many of the students who worked in the garden as recently as September have graduated, there were many individual thank-yous and some great comments for the gardeners.

Saturday, November 10 was a full day – full of learning and, by about 1:30, we were all just full. Twenty-four came for our FAST (Fun Activities and Skills Training) Thanksgiving meal. A mix of blind youth, parents, teachers, staff and volunteers (and one little brother) made an early Thanksgiving meal, substituting chickens for a turkey.

Everybody got a hand in the preparations and the feast that followed! Four parents also took the opportunity to practice skills under sleepshades, doing everything from slicing carrots to taking pies from the oven.

Yes, we’re full of thanks for all who came, for the teenagers hanging out by the piano after it was all put away, and for the leftovers, naturally!

Colorado Gives Day is Tuesday, December 4, and we’re in for the mega-million-dollar statewide day of giving, sponsored by First Bank and the Community First Foundation! Your gift to us on CoGivesDay2018 ensures that we can continue to offer programs to youth, seniors and working-age adults that challenge, impart skills and infuse the confidence in themselves our students can draw on throughout the rest of their lives!

Sure, we’ll take your gifts any time, but there are some advantages to both of us if you contribute on December 4: