POSTED October 01, 2021
Client Cameo: Claudia Riemer
Claudia Riemer is our October Client Cameo. Up until she moved to Colorado in 2010, Claudia had always lived by the ocean. She was born in Casablanca, Morocco and raised by Isrealian parents who worked as civilians for the military as language translators. Her father spoke thirteen languages, her mother spoke seven and Claudia, herself, can speak four! When she was five-years-old they moved to Florence, Italy where they lived until she was fourteen. They then moved to New York for two years but decided to move to Santa Barbara, California where she ended up living for forty-two years! After her parents divorced, she was raised by her single mother who emphasized the importance of a good education. She attended high school in Santa Barbara and college at Cal Poly Technical College in San Luis Obispo. Her major was Nutrition Dietetics and Food Administration. Upon graduation, she attended Marcella Hazan Cooking School in Florence, Italy where she received her degree as a Saucier. After returning from Italy, Claudia ran her own successful catering business for 37 years and catered huge events for big name stars, the music academy and board of education just to name a few.
Although Claudia has dealt with a lot of hardships in her past, such as her house burning down and nine deaths in her family during a close timeframe, she remains eternally optimistic and grateful. In 2010, Claudia decided to make her permanent home in Boulder, Colorado.
Once in Colorado, she went back to school at Front Range Community College and received a degree in Alternative Healing. After getting her degree, she worked demonstrating health and nutritional products for about ten years until the demand of being on her feet all day caused her to become disabled. Despite her disability, Claudia remains very grateful that she is able to live a quiet and peaceful life here in Colorado. She feels safe, has a roof over her head and has reliable doctors and caregiving. She is thankful that God moved her to Colorado because our state offers better services for seniors. Some of the services are: the Senior Center in Longmont, Via Mobility for transportation and, of course, Cultivate.
Claudia says that Cultivate has helped keep her safe at home and feels like we are an extension of her current family. She uses our YardBusters program for yard clean up and our Fix-It program for home repairs such as installing grab bars and more. She adores our volunteers and staff and feels they are a Godsend to her on a day-to-day basis. Claudia says that they are all so wonderful and that they volunteer for the right reasons—with the sole intention to help and give back.
Claudia believes that volunteering and paying it forward is the best natural high. She has a passion for helping others. Hurricane Katrina was the start of her major philanthropic endeavors. Claudia helped fill three moving vans full of donations and supplies to send during the rescue efforts. She has since gone on to help serve food to the homeless at Roosevelt Park in Longmont, helps with clothing and pet drives, helps during the holidays at Unity Church, assists with getting food to Navajo Indians and volunteers at Longmont Helping Hands.
Claudia still has a passion for cooking and is a self-proclaimed "Jammer." She is famous for her homemade jams and condiments that she sells at festivals and by special order. She makes jams using local ingredients and flavors you don't find in the stores such as Maple Palisade Peach Jam and Pumpkin Pie Apple Spice Butter. Claudia is known amongst the Cultivate staff and volunteers for her generosity of bringing delicious homemade baked goods to show her appreciation.
Cultivate would like to thank Claudia for being such a positive advocate for our services and for spoiling our staff and volunteers with her tasty treats. They are her true language of love.