Annual Open House at SDS in Lamar

This Thursday, March 31st, Southeastern Developmental Services on South 4th Street in Lamar hosted their annual open house to showcase the services they provide to their clients in the area. SDS has been serving Prowers, Baca, Kiowa and Eastern Bent Counties now going on five decades.

One of the main purposes of the assisted living organization is to provide a quality of life for their clients, allowing them to function as independently as possible and SDS provides housing, recreation and a general support mechanism so their clientele can function as productive members of their local society.

Executive Director, Kim Engsberg, noted that barring some final electrical construction, their case management offices will be ready for occupancy. The house across the street from the SDS main facility will separate those employees from the services side of the organization per state and federal regulations.  The house had been purchased about three years ago and little by little, volunteer work on its conversion has come close to completion.

Case Management Offices

Engsberg noted that through the assistance of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, a part of the Colorado Department of Human Services, several of their clients have found local employment. “Two are working at McDonald’s in Lamar and one person is ready to take on the responsibilities of working the cash register,” she noted, while others have been employed at Big R and at Thrifty King.  Engsberg noted that some of the clients who worked as a cleaning crew for yards and parking lots have started to age a little, so they’re enjoying more retirement at this point.

Another annual event, the SDS spring yard sale is still in the planning stages at this point, either May or June for that fundraiser. The scholarship program, Walter’s Cans, offers a $500 scholarship each spring to area students who are selected from their essay detailing why they should be deserving of the donation.  Funds for the scholarship come from proceeds earned by recycled cans collected from around the Lamar area, a project begun by the late Walter Ely. This should be the sixth year, Engsberg noted, but said that although two recipients were awarded $500 each last year, the proceeds were less this year than the one before, so it will be a single presentation.

By Russ Baldwin