Very Hungry Caterpillars

Dear Imagine friends and family,

This is another moment of change in the Imagine Community. Most importantly, if you receive this newsletter you should also have received word that our friend, family and client, Damien Tucker-Beck passed away in August after a bout with COVID-19. They are honored throughout this newsletter and in our office, in our community and hearts. We will be honoring them with a memorial celebration on the evening of September 15, with some details to work out. You can RSVP to Stephanie if you want to attend. The intended format is a "last drive" beginning at Imagine's office and ending at a favorite restaurant of Damien's. D loved car rides and pizza. See below for memories of him from Imagine staff.

Also, we want to make our community aware of a fundraiser to help D's family with funeral costs. Just past his 24th birthday, and with no expectation of his passing, the family had not yet set aside funds for honoring his life. His Facilitator, Stephanie, set up a Gofundme to help. As of this writing, the $5,000 goal has nearly been met but we want you to know about and I'm sure a little extra will be a comfort.

The Gathering of Extraordinary People was fantastic. We welcomed Manuel's restaurant as our new caterer. They did a great job and people really enjoyed having their meals cooked for them. Lots of Imagine staff, past and present (looking at you, Lili and Sarge) made sure the event was set up and ready to be the inclusive celebration we all enjoy. Norma and Jessica in particular put a lot into the events and making the whole day great. If you were there, we're grateful and hope you enjoyed yourself. If you weren't, we hope you make it next year. There are photos below.

The Imagine Film Festival now has a date you can save. Wednesday, October 25th will be our 11th Film Festival. For the people new to Imagine, this is something we do to help the community become more inclusive, in a way that centers around individuals with disabilities. The film festival features music, food and short films by, about and/or featuring people with special needs. Typically it has been on a weekend, but there were none available at our venue so we're trying out the Wednesday date. We'd love to see you there. The call for films is below.

Caregiver Raises:Patty has the details below but the board of directors approved the fourth set of caregiver raises in two years, with the new set the largest yet. We will never be satisfied but in a time when most of the world and our county in particular is suffering from a rising cost of living, we are grateful to have our most important coworkers see their incomes grow faster.

Caregiver wages, whether by median or average or from the bottom, have risen by about a third since this time two years ago. This was made possible by three important factors: substantial increases in reimbursement rates provided by the legislature at long last, growth in the number of hours of service we are able to provide and by keeping our overhead lean (figuratively, I mean.). One thing that means is that the raises would have been less if not for the caregivers themselves, their reliability and commitment. The other thing this means is that the administrative team and Facilitators have really stretched themselves to accommodate a growing agency that can afford better wages for others. Please be kind to the folks in the office.

There are more than the usual number of voices in this month's Gnu's letter. (See The Redwood Chronicles below before you assume I'm using bad voice-to-text.) As such, I'll keep my own contributions coy.

Further down, this month's newsletter includes the following:.

The Redwood Chroncles column continues although without a submission. In its place is a parable since I need to make the pun in the headline make sense somehow.

Meet AJ. He doesn't seem to mind attention so we're giving him some.

Patty Lopez, Imagine's Assistant Director of Human Resources gives the details on the raises, referral bonuses and scolds some of the staff more subtly than I would. The Human Resources corner targets employees but stakeholders, especially parents, who worry about direct care wages might want to make time.

Jen, who works harder and explains more in fewer words than I could, joins the newsletter to help some staff with a problem several have recently had: deciphering the confusing pay stubs our new payroll service puts out. If you hate math, you might want to give this a miss but come back to it when you think you weren't paid your time-and-a-half.

In The Service Sector, Stephanie thanks everyone for The Gathering.

In Community Connections, Susan gives you a month off from her hospitality.

Our usual stuff in the columns around advocacy, self-determination, the Imagine Endowment and Transparency.

The Person-Centered Evolution this month is just pictures.

This month we have extra spotlights on Damien and Autumn, his lead staff at the end.

As ever, if you have any questions, feedback or concerns, please don't hesitate to get in touch. You can write me here. I look forward to hearing from you.

Gratefully yours,

Doug

The Imagine Endowment

We have an endowment to support Imagine's future. Imagine will receive regular payments of the returns from these funds. Initially, we expect the impact to be small but as the endowment grows, it holds the promise of helping Imagine help others through hard times to come.

If you are considering a gift to the endowment, either right now or as part of a giving plan or bequest, we have information available here. And thank you.

To make direct contributions please make checks payable to; The Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County.  Designate the "Imagine Supported Living Services Fund". Mail to;   Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County, 7807 Soquel Dr., Aptos, Ca.  95003. 

-Submitted by Doug

Memories of Damien

Damien Tucker Beck was one of the funniest, intellectual humans that I have ever met. He claimed he was related to Bigfoot . I can recall when i first started working with him we went up to the summit (Dee loved his car rides and singing his music in the forest was sublime) and he did his Bigfoot call.

I was asked to prove myself in order to become part of his pack. I did my best and Damien laughed and said i sound like a dying bird but there was room for improvement and he will train me in the way of the Bigfoot and take me under his wing.

That was the start of our friendship. We had many discussions about the Paranormal and how he was part alien and robot and he had convincing stories to go with it. He was was an extraordinary storyteller as well as was a beacon of information from anything pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, animal facts as well as gaming, as well as language (he use words i have to Google because i had never heard them before.) Those are just a few of his strengths.

He was extremely passionate about wanting to open up and start his different business adventures, he always included his family, friends and others so nobody would ever be left out. Damien's compassion as well as his life experience were a game changer for me. I have never met anyone like him, and I'm sure I never will. He became family to me and I'm sure I to him. To say he will be missed is an understatement.

"If you are feeling disheartened, that you are somehow, not enough set your heart ablaze" The flame hashira Kyojuro Rengoku from our favorite anime show demon slayer

Submitted by Autumn Beserra, Lead Staff