Happy Happy Holidays.

To Our Amazing Supporters, Vendors, Playhouses, Families and Friends:

congratulations & thank you!!!!

What a year! YOU are the miracles that help our families every day! Because of YOUR support and impact, I can’t help but marvel at the achievements that occurred in 2016:

We opened FOUR playhouses bringing our total to 31!
We’ve been blessed by more than 150,000 donated hours from volunteers!
We served 26,000 families around the US and in Mexico!
We provided nearly 50,000 program sessions and we’re planning for more!
We were chosen as the 2017 beneficiary of the Northwestern University Dance Marathon!
We received national media coverage and support from CNN, A&E, and NBC!
(Psst – and our fearless founder was chosen as a 2016 CNN Hero!)
We formally launched the Generation G campaign!
We pushed back against discrimination and ignorance demonstrated by individuals and large corporations!
We pushed new boundaries, helped new families, and inspired new action for greater acceptance!

woo-hoo!

Thank you for making a difference TODAY, throughout 2016, and over the past 13 years. Achievements made by our participants, belief instilled in our families, and perceptions changed in our communities are happening because of you. Thank you for believing that the world can become a much better place – one child, one diagnosis, one community at a time.
Our work is far from complete. New parents are still not getting encouragement they need from hospitals. Students with Down syndrome are being bullied at school and on social media, and are not receiving education in the way they learn best. Qualified adults with Down syndrome are being rejected from great jobs. There is still so much more to do. With your help we will do it! We are Generation G! 

Messages from around our amazing network of Playhouses

Thank you for reminding our communities and neighborhoods that, no matter what path we’re on, life is a journey for all of us. Let’s share it!

GiGi’s is a place for belonging and for showing the world what people with Down syndrome are capable of!

We visited for the first time today and had a blast. My son is 4 1/2 , and has asked four times so far to go back. Three times he put on his jacket and tried to let himself out to go “by myself” back to GiGi’s, after I told him ‘we’ couldn’t go back right now.

Amazing! For any and all families blessed with a child with Down syndrome, this is the place to be. The staff is amazing, as are the enrichment programs and support.

GiGi’s Playhouse has been SO great!! Joey (7 yrs old) can’t talk for the most part, just signs…BUT they have taught him to read!!! It is an absolutely amazing program! So many great volunteers! They have been instrumental in Joey’s learning! Thank you to all who volunteer & support them!

There is no place like this place. There is excitement and commitment to people with Down syndrome and their families.

What a wonderful program for our community. I was fortunate to be able to volunteer for a special event, and I look forward to helping at more events. They have a wonderful staff!
We are looking forward to 2017. New Playhouse openings, celebrating achievement, meeting new families, and reaching new believers in the GiGi’s Playhouse mission.

May this holiday season sparkle and shine, may all of your wishes and dreams come true, and may you feel this happiness all year round. Bring it on 2017 we are ready to give our #bestofall!