Colorado Connections Helps Paula Pursue her Passion

Paula Barlow has a passion for writing poetry. She has written over 50 poems, many of which she can recite from memory. “All of my poems have a story behind them,” Paula shared. She explained that her inspiration comes from her observations about life experiences. “It’s about real life and the little things that we experience every day,” she said of her writing. Many of her poems explore ideas of hope, faith and determination, reflecting her attitude about the obstacles she has faced as a traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivor.

After suffering a TBI in a motor vehicle accident, Paula faced numerous medical problems and depression. “I wanted to start working again,” she stated, but she was no longer able to work as a certified nursing assistant because of her injuries. However, Paula discovered a new passion in writing poetry. Many of her poems were written after her accident, which gave her the idea to create poetry books and greeting cards to sell. Since Paula was receiving TBI services through Colorado Connections, she shared her idea with her care coordinator, Kristen Burns. Kristen helped her take several classes through Colorado Free University to help her build her entrepreneurial skills. Paula has taken classes in business basics, online marketing and turning crafts into cash. She would also like to take some computer classes to improve her design work. “Kristen has been very helpful and very encouraging to me,” Paula shared.

With her determination and positive outlook, Paula has been making progress toward her goal. She has had several poems published in a local bilingual newspaper, La Luz, and has collected many of her poems into a colorful scrapbook. She also shares her poetry at her Bible study group and sometimes at open mic nights. Always up for a new writing challenge, Paula wrote a poem about Denver Options expressly for this article.

Denver Options
Denver Options is the option of hope.
It gives the option
to be all it can be by giving and sharing.
It gives its family all and more of all there is to give.
It’s about building lives of those dreams
that might seem so far away.
We share in the love of one another
to strengthen in the hopes and dreams
of the lives that it touches.
Denver Options helps to build lives,
to create a future for the lives of others
and maybe the lives of our own.
Giving the gift of love
is more than an option.
It’s a must to share the love God meant for all.
Denver Options
is for the people
with disabilities of not walking to school,
maybe not to tie one’s shoes,
a fatal accident or of birth
or just not knowing
who’s in charge,
but of people
with the need of care and love.
Safety, care and love for all
is what Denver Options
is all about.

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Learn more about Colorado Connections, Denver Options’ statewide traumatic brain injury program.

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