A Promising New Year
2014 has been a great year! Our annual appeal and matching gift raised over $60,000! We produced 2 videos to help us share the story of our beautiful community. Dancing for Down Syndrome gave families a platform to share their experience of being a part of the Down syndrome community...
Double Your Gift this Giving Season
An anonymous donor has committed to match up to $15,000 of your contributions this giving season. Click here to give what you can, knowing that your gift will be doubled! “GiGi's Playhouse means so much more to Isabella than a neighborhood place for after school activities. It has provided Isabella with...
Obama, Bono & GiGi
What do Barbara Walters, Al Gore, James Cameron, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Bono, Michelle Obama and GiGi's Playhouse New York all have in common? Each were asked to acknowledge and share the importance of the contributions made by Glamour Magazine's five audacious Women of the Year 2014. The...
We need your voice! Come. Share. Inspire.
Imagine the joy of knowing your loved one belongs to a city-wide network of friends, family, and community leaders who promote, support, and celebrate individuals with Down syndrome. Imagine a day when New York City is famous for setting the bar for community inclusion! That's what GiGi's Playhouse is about. We...
Up-syndrome news from the international political scene!
Spain’s Down Syndrome councillor makes history | Valet 2014 Spain’s first-ever town councillor with Down Syndrome is set to start work in the Spanish city of Valladolid on Monday, but many people with her condition in Spain find themselves unable to vote because of a legal loophole. Thirty-year old...
Think College – Playhouse will host discussing this fall on the Building Blocks for Success
Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, August 21, 2014: Eight students with cognitive disabilities had the chance Thursday afternoon to do something few of their peers get to do: move into a college dorm. That's because Concordia University Wisconsin, in partnership with Bethesda College of Applied Learning, will be housing the students through a...
Educational inclusion boosts language skills
Children with disabilities benefit from classroom inclusion Language skills improve when preschoolers with disabilities are included in classes with typical peers COLUMBUS, Ohio – The secret to boosting the language skills of preschoolers with disabilities may be to put them in classrooms with typically developing peers, a new study finds....
MEASURING THE IMPACT
The Down syndrome community of New York City did something that has never been done before. A minuscule fraction of the 4 to 5 thousand families touched by Down syndrome estimated to live in the metropolitan area, shared their experiences of loving someone with Down syndrome on Playhouse supported web pages. Thirty-five families posted their stories...
Enormous Capacity for Good
When I was a young boy, I’d often attend novenas (prayer service) with my mother, with a selfish motive deep in my heart: As one of ten children, at least for that short time I had Mom all to myself. On one particular evening the visiting priest was a missionary. ...
A Company of Friends at GiGi’s Playhouse
A Company of Friends is a theatre group for Adults with Special Needs in Liverpool, England. It began as a group of friends that wanted to spend more time together and had similar goals and similar senses of humor. Now, the Company of Friends has over 15 members that travel...
Dancing for Down syndrome
I'm the mother of a child with Down syndrome. I remember the days when I thought that meant my life was pretty much over. I imagined long days of pity and ostracism. What I've discovered is a beautiful child, a welcoming community, and a compelling sense of purpose. This was the gift of GiGi's...
Teens and Young Adults at GiGi’s Playhouse!
plai ensemble theatre, guest artists in residence at GiGi's Playhouse NYC, are making waves with the coolest new Playhouse participants - teens and young adults we meet weekly to create and share the magic of theatre in a public performance scheduled for our local, Harlem library. Here is...