The End of the 30th Year

Gordon has a lot to look forward to this week.

Next Saturday he is going to the Cincinnati Opera House for dinner with his TALL group.

He found this great picture of the Opera House. He picked it because it is so pretty.

Then on Sunday he plans to watch the Patriots win the Super Bowl with his family. He said that he has a friend from New York who is a Giants fan; Gordon is therefore choosing the Patriots. He think it will be a good game; Tom Brady is a good quarterback.

Gordon is also pretty excited because his 31st birthday is Tuesday. He thinks we should have a party to celebrate.

He also wanted to talk about how much fun he has watching his favorite TV show, Law and Order,

Gordon also talked about how excited he is to keep learning guitar. When he was little he had a small plastic red on, like this one. He has been working on his music skills with another InRETURN Associate, Andrew in their music class. Gordon really likes to play guitar and is focusing now on where to put his hands.

David Lawrence would like change

When asked if there was one thing in the world that he would like to change David Lawrence replied,

“I think minimum wage should be closer to ten dollars. I think it would make a huge difference!”

He then found this image to support his thought.

Get Well Kevin

One of our Associates, Kevin, had surgery today to get a tumor biopsied. We heard the surgery went great and wanted him to know that we wish him well and hope he gets better soon.

So we created this to let him know we are thinking about him.

Weekly Travels

Andrew is a very busy guy. Last Monday he went to Melodic Connections with his Garage Band group and he worked on playing the guitar. He said that they’ve helped him with the snare drum, the keyboard and the guitar, but the guitar is his favorite. After searching through pictures of guitars, he said that this one was his favorite.

On Tuesday, Andrew went to his improv class where they are working with Playhouse in the Park to put on a production of a children’s play, called The River Rat and Cat, in April. On Wednesday he went to a coffee shop in Kentucky to listen to some poetry. Four different people preformed that night and a guy that had poems about a trip to England and a rave was Andrew’s favorite. It was his first time at the coffee shop, but Andrew really enjoyed it and expects to go back. On Thursday night he hung out with the staff of LADD.

When asked if he could take a break from his busy week and take a trip anywhere, Andrew responded with Scotland.

Andrew is a big fan of the show Ghost Hunters International and although he’s never been there, his favorite thing about Scotland would be the buildings. He loves the haunted history. His dream would be to take the same tours that the people on Ghost Hunters International took and possibly stay in the same locations. He would also like to talk to the guy who is on Ghost Hunters International.

While searching through pictures of Scotland, Andrew found this picture of a castle that looks like it would be a cool place to stay.

New Life in Plants

This week, David Tirado has been thinking about plants and new life.

The recent tornadoes in Alabama and the media coverage of the destruction brought back memories for David. Being from Puerto Rico and still taking numerous trips there, David knows a lot about hurricanes and the damage that they can cause. He talked about staring out the windows and seeing the waves and the winds. The recent tornadoes also reminded him of the damage from Hurricane Katrina and how these kinds of storms leave people with nothing. His family gives a lot of stuff to people who don’t have any and so when asked about what was on his mind this week, he said, “New Life.”

He said that when he thought about areas with no power, he also thought about areas with no plants. So to contrast the images of the destruction, he found these images of “New Life.”

InRETURN updates

Wow!

What a year it was! 2011 brought many great things to InRETURN.

Thanks to our partnership with GroupOn, the Associates are now reading a book about Rwanda and as Glenn recently said it is great to get that perspective on what’s going out in the world.

We also have started an art class. I am going to post some scanned copies of the work our Associate’s have been doing. They’re amazing.

We have also welcomed two new people to the InRETURN family. We recently hired Glenn and a former employee, David Lawrence, has returned to the InRETURN staff. We hope to keep the InRETURN Associates staff growing this year.

We are also looking forward to some great things in 2012. Planning has already begun for the next golf outing. The 7th Annual InRETURN Spring Scramble will be held on Friday, May 12, 2012 at the Wetherington Golf and Country Club.

Starting this week Friday, keep an eye out for more posts directly from the Associates themselves with updates on InRETURN, their lives and stories and interesting things going on in the world.

Thanks everyone for all their continued support, now lets enjoy some art!   — Jayme

Groupon/InRETURN Press Release

 

InRETURN Partners with G-Team for Fundraising Initiative

If 20 People Donate $10, InReturn Can Give 10 Production Asscociates Two New Textbooks

 

Cincinnati, OH – InRETURN and G-Team (http://www.groupon.com/g-team), the philanthropic arm of Groupon, announce the launch of a local campaign to Give 10 InRETURN Production Associates Two New Textbooks.

 

The InRETURN campaign will be available on Groupon’s Cincinnati/Dayton G-Team page beginning on Tuesday, September 13^th through Friday, September 16^th. Utilizing G-Team’s collective action model, Groupon followers can pledge support for the fundraising initiative in increments of $10, with each $10 providing two new textbooks.

 

A donation of $10 helps InReturn provide their production associates with books to help increase their literacy as they learn about current events, social interactions, and interpersonal skills.

 

“We are excited to employ the collective action model of G-Team to raise support for individuals with neurological disease, disorder or injury,” said Jayme Joers, Administration and Program Development Assistant. “We look forward to creating new awareness for InRETURN as one of the first local organizations in Cincinnati and Dayton to be featured on G-Team.”

 

100% percent of the G-Team campaign proceeds will be used to provide new textbooks to InRETURN Production Associates.

 

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InReturn strives to enrich the lives of individuals suffering from neurological diseases and those who have sustained traumatic brain injuries (TBI) through real-world employment and life-skills classes. Working at InReturn as production associates, these TBI survivors and individuals with special needs gain independent-living skills, work experience, and social-interaction opportunities to help facilitate personal success and community involvement.

 

About G-Team

G-Team, launched in July 2010 in Chicago, features a weekly local campaign in more than 35 markets nationwide, enabling Groupon followers to do good, have fun, and make a real impact in their communities. G-Team uses collective action to gather support for worthwhile causes and produce tangible results for local organizations. To learn more about G-Team and how to become a featured organization, visit http:www.groupon.com/g-team. To subscribe to Groupon, visit http://www.groupon.com

 

Press Contacts:

 

InRETURN

Jayme Joers

513-247-0056 x 13

jayme@inreturn.org

 

Groupon

Kelsey O’Neill

312-662-7118

Kelsey@groupon.com

Photo Fun

Today, the Associates worked on building their computer skills with the laptops donated by NewPage Coporation.

Students from the Occupational Therapy program at Xavier University were on hand to guide the Associates through some fun photo editing activities using the free website, www.picnik.com

With the help of this program, simple headshots taken during a previous Xavier session were turned into works of art as the Associates tapped into their creativity.

Before:

After Kevin’s editing:

Andrew’s creation:

Oh the Weather outside.

InRETURN will be closing an hour early, at 2 pm all days this week due to the extreme heat.

Garden Time

The InRETURN Organic Garden is going strong!

With the help of a wonderful volunteer, Amy, the InRETURN Associates are growing a variety of vegetables, and last week ate the first “fruits” of their labor.

Here are some pictures from their Gardening Class.

And for those interested, the aluminum pie pans that are hanging in our garden are a safe and effective way to keep birds, deer and pets out of your garden.

 

Seedlings