Aftersight – Nonprofit Organization of the Year: Human Services

“Just because you don’t have vision doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy life,” said Kim Wardlow, who admitted she couldn’t envision leading Aftersight when she started in 1999 as a volunteer in charge of recording stories for children on reel-to-reel tape for the Boulder-based group, then called the Audio Information Network of Colorado.

“It was a win-win because I love to read,” she said.

Wardlow joined the staff as director of marketing in 2001 after the company she was working for announced layoffs, then became executive director in 2018 after AINC founder David Dawson retired and just before the COVID-19 pandemic set in.

“I never found that other real job,” Wardlow said. “I stayed because the work was so rewarding.”

The nonprofit organization provides audio access to print information and services for blind, low vision, or individuals that need an alternative to print across Colorado. It makes audio recordings of newspapers and other printed materials in English and Spanish, as well as offering original podcasts and listening equipment. It facilitates support groups and other empowering events.

During the pandemic, Wardlow pivoted the roles of the staff and volunteers to work remotely and set up check-in calls for hundreds of Aftersight’s listeners that she knew would struggle with the isolation that the shutdown created.

View the 2024 – Community Builder Awards honorees.

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