What is EPIC?

This week, the participants of GiGi’s Playhouse Nashville’s EPIC adult program want to tell you a little more about EPIC and what it means to us. We’ve written some of our thoughts below. We hope you enjoy reading them!

What do the letters of EPIC mean? – By JR, Hannah, Scotty, and Sam

• E – Empowerment – developing confidence, believing in yourself, trying new things even if they make you nervous at first
• P – Participation – getting involved, joining in, helping, being positive
• I – Independence – doing things on your own, doing chores, taking care of yourself, feeding yourself, clothing yourself, money management
• C – Community Involvement – helping others in the community, volunteering at a homeless shelter or nursing home, being a part of On the End CrossFit and sports teams, going to the library, taking the bus, working in the community

EPIC Adults at Row for a Reason 2016! Sign up for Row for a Reason 2017 on April 8!

What EPIC has done in the past? – By Caroline, Zach, Tori, and Andrew

• An artist (Artwork by Melinda) taught the EPIC adults techniques to paint cards. We sold the cards at the Franklin Hot Air Balloon Festival to raise money for EPIC.

• We learned about food safety, talked about healthy foods, made a grocery list, and added up the cost of the food, and purchased it, and we practiced safe cooking by preparing recipes. At the end of the semester, we partnered with Culver’s of Franklin and delivered food to the tables and to cars in the drive through to raise money for EPIC!

• EPIC and GiGi’s partnered with Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe to provide jobs for our adults.

• EPIC adults planned food, drinks, and decorations, and picked the music for a holiday party,  shopped at Dollar Tree and Kroger, and threw a great party.

What EPIC Means to Us – By, Taylor, Josh, Clayton, and Tyler

• Having fun, learning independence and self care skills, learning patience, learning how to manage money and pay for things you want
• Helping your friends
• Being a team leader
• Meeting new friends
• Being silly and joking with one another
• GiGi’s provides us with computers to use and helps us learn about technology
• Having a routine for the week and something look forward to on Tuesdays
• It gives us opportunities to be social (for example, going out to eat before EPIC)
• EPIC helps me have a “good life”
• Having friends to care for
• Learning how to show respect for one another and learning how to build relationships

EPIC Adults Meeting Mr. Chris Ulmer from Special Books by Special Kids!

Thank you for reading our second blog post. Please stay tuned for our next post!

– EPIC Adults of GiGi’s Playhouse Nashville