Recent Blog Posts
Catering With a Purpose
GiGi's Genesis Health Bar was busy catering with a purpose on World Down Syndrome Day! Playhouse Ambassadors kicked off the day with prepping cookie and pinwheel platters for our friends from Fort Financial and Indiana ABA Institute! Rolling the tortillas and then cutting the pinwheels is such a great fine...
Celebrate Differences Through Reading
Playhouse Ambassador, Cameron, and our Executive Director were honored to be asked to read at Covington Elementary' s Read Across America event on March 2nd. For us, it's an easy choice when it comes to reading a book. Our favorite go-to is Different - A Great Thing To Be by...
A Journey Back to Where We Started: Meet Our Executive Director
I started my journey with the Playhouse in the Fall of 2015, but for the real story of when my journey with GiGi's Playhouse started, you can go here. I led the Playhouse through opening in January of 2016 through the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic in 2020. With a...
Dreams Do Come True
Nolan is a 6-year-old aspiring news anchor who happens to have Down syndrome. While he has yet to see an individual with Down syndrome reporting the news, he is no stranger to being in a news story. It was through an August Positively Fort Wayne segment about Food Truck Wednesdays...
Look How Far We’ve Come!
On October 21, 2015, GiGi's Playhouse Fort Wayne began construction on our Playhouse. Shambaugh & Son, Vintage Archonics, and hundreds of donors believed in the vision and made this empty and lifeless retail space into a purposeful space filled with opportunities, hope, and celebration. Over a dozen prenatal diagnoses have...
A Star Is Born
Sara started coming to GiGi's Playhouse Fort Wayne in 2018 and is a proud GiGi University graduate. She enjoys everything about GiGi's Playhouse. Sara likes making smoothies for customers at GiGi's Genesis Health Bar and coming up with new recipe ideas. She can often be found giggling with her friend...
GiGi’s Playhouse Receives Special Grant
On September 8th, GiGi’s Playhouse Fort Wayne was awarded $5,000 from the James Davis Fund, held at the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne during the 100th year celebration at the Embassy Theater. This grant is designated for a special event/field trip for the participants at our Playhouse. The James...
A BEAUtiful Life
Our first guest blogger of 2022 is Jessica aka Beau's mom! We first met Jessica and her beautiful family while Beau was still in the womb! GiGi's Playhouse was their first point of contact after receiving a diagnosis that their son had a 90% chance of being born with Trisomy...
GiGi’s Genesis Health Bar Expands Career Training with Food Truck Fridays
From our GiGi's at Home virtual programs to our new partnership with All-American Stores, GiGi's Playhouse Fort Wayne has found several silver linings throughout the past year and a half. While the pandemic reduced foot traffic to our GiGi's Genesis Health Bar during 2020 and early 2021, our team brainstormed...
Fall 2021 Programs: Volunteers Needed!
GiGi's Playhouse Fort Wayne is 99% volunteer-run, which means more than 200 volunteers assist us with a variety of roles throughout the year. As we gear up for our Fall 2021 programs, we're looking for a variety of volunteers to join our team! If you're interested in any of the...
GiGi’s Genesis Health Bar Expands Career Training Opportunities in partnership with All-American Stores and the Community
New partnership provides meaningful work experiences for adults with Down syndrome Fort Wayne, IN (May 6, 2021) – GiGi’s Genesis Health Bar and All-American Stores today announced a new partnership to expand career training opportunities to adults with Down syndrome. All-American Stores in Fort Wayne will now carry salads, wraps...
Volunteer Spotlight: Isabella Witulsk
GiGi’s Playhouse Fort Wayne is 99 percent volunteer-led. Each year, we host multiple high school and college students for internships in our Playhouse. Read more about our incredible interns and the work they’re doing to assist with our free, purposeful programs in our volunteer spotlight series. Tell us a little...