“When the Bus Stops Coming” . . . .

Kaitlyn Gage’s Mom, Jennifer Gage shares her “Why”. . . . .

“It’s no secret I got involved with GiGi’s Playhouse for my daughter Kaitlyn. She was graduating from high school in a few years, and I wasn’t sure what we were going to do ‘when the bus stopped coming’.

In 2013, two friends, Leslie Robertson, Valere Schlesinger, and I formed a start-up committee of family and friends to bring a GiGi’s Playhouse to serve the Valley Down syndrome community in the Greater Phoenix area. Even though initially most of the Playhouse programs were for younger children, there was a career development program called GiGi U that Kaitlyn could attend and GiGi’s Studio Café where Kaitlyn could eventually intern so I pushed forward to raise funds to open GiGi’s Playhouse Phoenix which was officially opened on February 14, 2015. GiGi’s Playhouse Phoenix was the 21st Playhouse to open throughout the United States and Mexico. I made it my personal mission to see the expansion of the Career Development Center to fruition. Now as I look at what we have created and the over 1100 families GiGi’s Playhouse Phoenix programs benefit (including mine), I can’t help but feel a great sense of accomplishment. I have had the great honor of watching new babies celebrated with new parent baskets, I have watched those babies come into the playhouse grow and thrive and graduate into their community schools, I have witnessed my own adult child’s incredible growth in literacy, confidence, and independence. I continue to be involved in GiGi’s Playhouse Phoenix’s growth because I believe GiGi’s might be the best thing to have happened in the Down syndrome community and I am so grateful for all the volunteers and donors that make it happen every year for our families.”

Submitted by:

Jennifer Gage

Founder GiGi’s Playhouse Phoenix