Colorado Experiences, LLC/COEX's mission statement is to strive to help individuals with developmental disabilities find their purpose in life.  Everyone needs a purpose in life to be fulfilled.  People with dd especially need to have a purpose in life.  And with our communities support, through our hard work and belief in ourselves, we know our mission as a company is sustainable and achievable as we work together to empower lives worth supporting!

COEX was started because of my daughter.  My daughter has Autism.  She did not have a purpose in life, although she has always seemed to be searching for a purpose.  Now that she is a young adult and no longer in school, it is imperative that we help her work toward and achieve her purpose in life.  No one else at this time in her life can do a better job of that than we (her dad and I) can, because we know our daughter better than anyone else.  Others can provide supports and suggestions and encouragement.  But we are with her more than anyone and know that more than anything she wants to be like her neurotypical peers.  COEX will help her to become part of her community in a positive manner, recognizing her strengths and building on them, as well as fostering her positive development cognitively in both communication/expressive and receptive language and socialization skill building.  Along the way we are engaging with other people with dd and her neurotypical peers, actively participating in the community so people know who we are and how much we have to offer as important, vital community members.

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Colorado Experiences, LLC/COEX believes in supporting individuals with developmental disabilities/dd to find their purpose in life.  Purpose in life is gained through experiences, and experiences are gained by being active participants in our communities.  Engaging in our communities requires us all to be active participants.  Having a purpose in life means being full participants in every aspect of what it means to be a community member:  Employment, Housing, Recreation, Friendships, Shopping...everything you do in your life is as important to a person with dd as it is to you.  

COEX is committed to the Community Supported Agricutural/CSA program model.  More and more people are moving toward this philosophy in their communities to help end hunger, promote sustainability, and create more jobs in this very difficult recession.  COEX has visited a wonderful CSA program, studied and learned about these vital community connections.  We have determined that with support from our rural and urban community members, people with developmental disabilities can play active, vital, engaged roles in sustaining their own individual lives through the CSA model.

We are looking for Advertising Sponsors!!!  We want to put your advertisement on our site!  We will promote your business on our webpages helping your business grow as we continue to grow and enhance the lives of people with developmental disabilities in our communities.  We need your financial support through your advertising on our website to enable us to grow and provide more and more services, enabling people with dd to live with purpose in their communities - your/our communities!  Thank you!!! 

Please continue to read below about our many endeavors:    
 
Ending Hunger and Promoting Literacy - Colorado Experiences, LLC/COEX is a relatively new company that is gearing up to become a vital link for people with developmental disabilities in their individual communities, who are struggling financially in today's economic recession and loss of government support programs.  COEX's initial foray into our own local, rural community is beginning to take shape as we work to identify individuals with developmental disabilities who are struggling financially and unable to afford basic, nutritious meals.  In recognition of this urgent need for our community members, we are looking for individual and business community sponsors of individuals with developmental disabilities/dd. 

Community sponsors are individuals or businesses willing to make monthly contributions, for one year, of at least 10 canned and/or boxed foods, as well as fresh vegetables and fruits, to help a local individual with dd sustain a healthy diet.  We are also requesting that sponsors provide a new or gently used book each month for the individual person they are sponsoring for the year.  Everyone loves to read or be read to and good will is fostered in a community when we share books that we love with others.  We will pick up donated items at a prescribed time and location each month and distribute the goods to participants, with updates to our sponsors regarding how their support is benefitting their sponsored local individual with developmental disabilities in our communities.

We'll be back to update as we proceed and progress with our goal of supporting our community members, who often times are not recognized and encouraged to be active participants in the everyday lives others take for granted.  Under the Olmstead Act people with disabilities are entitled to live as independently as possible and to participate in their communities, and we support and applaud this very vital act! 

Update (January 8, 2012):  We are currently contacting local, non-profit organizations to help us identify people with developmental disabilities/dd who are in need of food assistance.  We are starting locally because this is our community - people we know.  As we build upon our experiences, we will transition our services to urban communities, looking for sponsors in the Denver metro area for people with dd, in need of filling their food pantries with nutritious, sustainable foods.

January 12, 2012:  Soon, look for us on Facebook and Twitter to keep our sponsors aware of our daily activities in helping their community members keep their pantries full!

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We are starting our URBAN ORGANIC GARDEN!  Yes, even though it is the end of January, we have begun our compost pile and started buying vegetable seeds to plant and grow veggies indoors until the weather warms and we can transplant the young plants outdoors.  "Mother Earth News" and "Grit" magazines are providing us with the knowledge on how to move forward with each step.  Each step in this initial organic vegetable growing process is spelled out in understandable language per each individual's learning style/needs to enable the person to participate in sustainability with a purpose.  Each step is going to be video-recorded to enable the individuals with dd see themselves "in action" - a positive step in their individual growth and independence, and to help others see our progress as community members engaging in our larger community.

We will build upon individual skills and gradually introduce compatible skill sets to enhance and provide growth, so that the individual's purpose in life is becoming more and more recognized through their participation in the growth of our garden.

Some of our garden produce will be given to our participants each week to take home and be eaten - to fill their pantries full of nutritious, organically-grown food.  Some of our produce will be shared locally with identified individuals with dd who are in need of having a full pantry (as noted above) . Nothing better to eat than fresh, homegrown vegetables!  Other garden produce will be sold at Farmer's Markets, enhancing participants' language/communication and socialization skills in their communities.

To be able to grow vegetables year-round we hope to acquire funding for a hoophouse.  A hoophouse is similar to a greenhouse, but on a much smaller scale.  This will enable participants to work year-round on skills learned in the spring and summer gardening. 

Also, we are working on cooking classes!  Utilizing the gains we will see from our organically grown produce, we want to enjoy together the experience of creating wonderful meals that not only fill hungry stomachs but also teach valuable skills.  Often times purpose in life is gained by learning cooking skills, sharing good conversations while teaching these valuable kitchen skills, and then enjoying the bounty of one's endeavors at the table by eating what has been grown and then cooked.  Keeping pantries full provides a feeling of worth, comfort, and empowerment - knowing that we have been active participants in fulfilling yet another purpose to our lives.

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