Posts by aflores

Are you ready to groove and get fit? Well, Sabrina and Rachel certainly are! These dedicated volunteers have generously committed their Wednesday evenings to spearhead our exciting new program—Adult Dance! Let’s get to know the dynamic duo bringing the rhythm to GiGi’s Playhouse Hoffman Estates.  Sabrina, a seasoned veteran of the Playhouse, brings a wealth…

If you’ve been to Hugs & Mugs in the last few years, chances are you’ve met Mitchell. Mitchell has been coming to GiGi’s Playhouse since the very beginning, aka almost 20 years! Like all of our interns, Mitchell made his way through the career programs, starting off in GiGi Prep, then graduating GiGiU. Besides Hugs…

A Mother’s Story When I was pregnant with Nicole, I did not know that I was going to have a child born with Down syndrome. After she was born, the doctor came into my room and said, “You have a Mongoloid.” I said, “What? A Mongoloid?” And he said, “Yes.” He did not say “Down…

We are so excited to welcome Jackie to the Hoffman Estates playhouse as a summer intern focusing on Social Media. If you see Jackie around the playhouse and in programs give her a warm welcome! “Hello! I am a student studying Digital Marketing at DePaul University in Chicago and am very excited to be a…

“Carolyn has made great strides in speech. I have been seeing her for a few months. We’re working on expanding sentence length – to do this, it really works to engage Carolyn in tasks that challenge her cognitively, as her receptive language is very strong. Carolyn loves a good challenge! We work on “language puzzles”…

If you’ve been to GiGi’s Playhouse, specifically Hugs & Mugs, chances are you’ve met our intern, Liz. While we all know her great smile and infectious laugh, but how much do we really know her? We spoke to Liz and her mom, Beth, to talk about Liz’s experience at GiGi’s, interning at Hugs & Mugs,…

Jessica joins us for her internship from Aurora University. She has been helping in the Career Programs such as Hugs & Mugs, GiGi Prep, and most recently GiGiU. Jessica has been with GiGi’s since August 2022 and will be with us until May 2023.   While volunteering in Hugs & Mugs, Jessica spends her time 1:1…

At the Hoffman Estates Playhouse, we offer progressive career programs to adults 18 and older. The goals of our career programs are to increase self-confidence, increase career skill knowledge, increase personal wellness, and increase the quality of life of our participants. To start off the career programs journey, participants enroll in GiGi Prep. GiGi Prep…