Keys to Community August 2026 | Monthly Notes
Writer: Angela Hollingsworth
August was a full, joyful, and active month for CommuniKeys as we wrapped up summer programming and began looking toward fall.
This month brought together adventure camp experiences, outdoor recreation, garden-based learning, music, movement, new community outings, and important partnership development. Across all of it, our focus remained the same: creating meaningful opportunities for communication access, sensory accessibility, adult dignity, and real participation in community life.
August also gave us the chance to welcome new friends into the CommuniKeys community. Through camp days, shared meals, community outings, and repeated time together, students and families continued building relationships, trying new experiences, and helping us shape what future programming can become.
Summer Adventure and Community Participation
August included the close of our summer adventure camp season, and we are so grateful for the students, families, caregivers, and friends who helped make it such a meaningful summer.
Students and families participated in outdoor activities, community outings, shared recreation, and familiar weekly gatherings that supported movement, choice-making, peer connection, communication, and confidence.
We continued offering opportunities like pontoon boating at Horsetooth Reservoir, kayaking, community bowling, Open Rec, hiking, and other relaxed community-based activities. These experiences may look simple from the outside, but they create important opportunities for students to practice flexibility, environmental awareness, communication, regulation, and participation in public spaces.
Most importantly, these experiences helped our community grow. We met new friends, strengthened existing relationships, and continued building a rhythm where students and families can feel more connected, supported, and included.
Keys & Pints
In August, we continued developing Keys & Pints, our monthly community game night.
We first tried the gathering at Paddler’s Pub and then moved over to Stodgy Brewing Company as we continued looking for the right community space for this kind of relaxed, recurring event.
Keys & Pints is designed to give students, families, and caregivers a familiar place to gather, play games, visit, and build community in a public setting. We are still learning what works best, but we are excited to keep shaping this into a welcoming monthly rhythm.
Grow to Gather
Our garden work with Loveland Youth Gardeners continued to be a bright spot in August.
The garden produced some truly impressive tomatoes, and we are excited to turn that work into salsa in the coming weeks. Students have been part of a growing process that includes planting, watering, observing, harvesting, preparing, and sharing food together.
We also held a Grow to Gather Herb Party, where fresh herbs from the garden were used to make foods and drinks together. This kind of programming connects outdoor learning, sensory exploration, food preparation, shared responsibility, and community participation in a very hands-on way.
We are excited to keep building this pathway as our garden work continues to grow.
CSU Temple Grandin Equine Center
August included the conclusion of our successful orientation tours at the CSU Temple Grandin Equine Center.
These tours gave students and caregivers the opportunity to explore the barn environment, meet staff, observe the setting, and begin determining whether future equine care programming may be a good fit. As we move into fall, we are excited to begin planning schedules for our pilot students and continuing to shape this opportunity with care and intention.
This potential pathway gives CommuniKeys another meaningful way to support repeated exposure, sensory exploration, animal care routines, communication access, and structured participation in a real community learning environment.
Trying Something New: Golf
Golf became a new area of exploration for CommuniKeys in August, with Collin leading the experience.
We started with a putt-putt outing and followed up with a Golf 101 session at the CommuniKeys Hub. Students had the opportunity to explore equipment, try new movements, learn basic golf concepts, and participate at their own pace.
The outing was a success, and we had a genuinely good time together. Based on that interest, we are looking forward to adding more golf opportunities and continuing to explore how golf can support recreation, purposeful movement, turn-taking, sensory access, and community participation.
We are also expecting a portable Bucket Golf set to be donated to CommuniKeys in the future, and we are excited to test it with our students. As we learn more, we will look at any adaptive supports or modifications that may help make the set more accessible, comfortable, and useful for our community.
We are grateful for the opportunity to work with Bucket Golf, provide feedback, and continue exploring how this activity can grow.
FoCo Comic Con
CommuniKeys also made it to FoCo Comic Con, and it was a wonderful community outing.
Students had the chance to explore the event, enjoy costumes and characters, and participate in the Comic Con environment in ways that worked for them. Some students even became certified as real Ghostbusters, while others spent time with Star Wars characters and enjoyed the many creative parts of the event.
It was a fun reminder that community participation includes recreation, imagination, humor, shared interests, and the chance to simply enjoy being part of local events.
New Friends and New Ideas
August also brought new relationship-building and program possibilities.
We met new friends who may be able to help us explore a customized Dungeons & Dragons-inspired experience for CommuniKeys. This could become a creative way to support storytelling, imagination, choice-making, collaboration, communication, and peer connection in a slower-paced and accessible format.
We are excited to keep exploring whether this could become a good fit for our students and families.
Outdoor Learning and Adaptive Recreation
Outdoor learning continued to be an important part of August.
Students participated in hikes, water-based recreation, and outdoor experiences that supported movement, regulation, communication, and confidence in real community environments. We also continued our work with Colorado Youth Outdoors through scaffolded archery opportunities focused on safe participation, repeated practice, and communication access.
These experiences are helping us think more intentionally about how outdoor recreation can become a meaningful pathway for skill-building, confidence, and belonging.
As we look toward fall, we are also continuing to plan for adaptive recreation opportunities, including biking, mobility, and other movement-based programming that supports participation in the broader community.
Purposeful Movement
Purposeful Movement remained an important part of August programming.
These sessions support strength, coordination, balance, spatial awareness, body awareness, confidence, and readiness for participation. For CommuniKeys, movement is not separate from communication or independence. It is part of how students build access to daily life, recreation, community spaces, and shared experiences.
As we move into fall, we are continuing to think about how Purposeful Movement, WAVE, outdoor recreation, and community-based activities can work together as part of a larger participation pathway.
Sunday Sound Garden
One of the biggest August highlights was Sunday Sound Garden, our benefit concert at The Lyric.
The evening brought together live music, movement, community, and a relaxed sensory-informed environment. The music was great, the atmosphere was fun, and it was meaningful to see friends, families, musicians, volunteers, and community members come together in support of CommuniKeys.
We are grateful to everyone who helped make the event possible and are already thinking about how we can continue offering community events like this in the future.
Looking Toward Fall
Behind the scenes, August was also a month of planning and preparation.
The CommuniKeys team continued working on fall programming, activity documentation, adaptive recreation planning, Purposeful Movement, outdoor learning, website updates, grant preparation, and stronger internal systems. This work helps us move from one activity at a time toward more consistent, repeatable participation pathways.
As we head into September, we are looking forward to continued garden and food programming, more outdoor recreation, equine care pilot planning, future golf opportunities, adaptive biking development, community games, and new creative collaborations.
Thank You
Thank you to every student, family, caregiver, staff member, volunteer, donor, musician, and community partner who helped make August such a full month.
CommuniKeys continues to grow because this community keeps showing up.
Together, we are building communication, participation, and belonging.
Angela Hollingsworth
Executive Director
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