News and notes from Imagine! and the Imagine! Foundation.
Erin Schram - 2021 Alliance DSP of the Year Nominee
Mar-15-2021
Services
Imagine! employee Erin Schram was recently nominated for an Alliance Direct Support Professional (DSP) of the Year Award. We don’t know yet if Erin will be selected as a winner, but we know Imagine! has already won by having her on our team. Read Erin’s nomination below to see why we are so fortunate to have her as part of our team.
"Erin is one of the most engaging facilitators we’ve had at Imagine!. She tailors all activities to each individual in class, regardless of ability, ensuring that everyone can successfully participate. One of the hallmarks of Erin’s work is her creativity in activity planning. For example, she created an unbelievably unique way for one individual served by Imagine! to express himself through art. Suiting the individual up in a hazmat suit, and providing him with spray bottles filled with a special glossy paint, this individual has created masterpieces that have sold for hundreds of dollars on Imagine!’s Etsy page.
You can read more about this unique and incredibly imaginative way to bring this individual’s art to life here: Imagine! Helps Longmont Man with Disabilities Find Hidden Talent News Article
That story demonstrates the creativity and passion that Erin brings to serving all of her clients. Erin always jumps in and tries new things, and will pick up shifts any time and put her own unique spin on whatever class she is teaching. She shares her ideas and lesson plans to be a model for other employees, and her individualized approach to instruction helps with effective skill-building and helping people reach goals across Imagine!.
Along with teaching art and photography classes, Erin assists with creatively approaching job readiness, advocates for assistive technology for clients, and helps lead advocacy classes. Erin serves as a passionate advocate/ally as well, and often you will find her sharing Imagine!’s successes (and more importantly, the successes of the people we serve) with the community at large.
During the pandemic, Erin quickly adapted her lessons to the virtual format, and she played a large role in getting people excited about virtual and in the success of our virtual programming during COVID – people will take any class she is teaching because it is so engaging. That’s not just us saying that: satisfaction surveys we’ve done featured many responses praising Erin specifically. Parents let us know that Erin built a sense of normalcy, fun, and something to look forward to during the pandemic, no small feat. Parents told us that Erin has done a great job teaching people to be successful in a virtual environment, during a time when that is critically important for maintaining relationships.
Erin is a treasure, and we strongly recommend her for the Alliance DSP of the Year Award. "
