Love Our Team – Ann Cobb

Last but not least in our Love Our Team series, we are showing some love for our staff members. As many of you may know, we only have 2 paid staff members! While they have assigned job duties, they also know each others jobs fairly well in order to fill in when needed, and they complete a lot of “other duties as assigned/needed” because one never knows what or who will walk in the door or be on the other end of the phone.

Today we will highlight them both! First up, please help show some love and appreciation for Ms. Ann.

Ann first heard about GiGi’s on social media. Who says nothing good comes from social media? Anyway…

Ann first became involved with the Playhouse in early 2020 as a contracted speech pathologist. Within weeks, she had to quickly learn how to do speech virtually! She overcame that challenge successfully and is actually still doing a few virtual sessions as needed today! In 2021, we expanded Ann’s contract to include program coordination. Ann then joined us as a true staff member in January of 2022 just in time to ramp up additional programming to fill our expanded space.

Ann is our Program Coordinator and Speech and Language Therapist. She works with the Program Committee to schedule a year of programs and works with many volunteers to plan and implement those programs. As the Speech Pathologist she also sees 10 speech participants during each session. Ann has also contributed to the national programming and speech team and ensures the Amina Grace Speech and Language Therapy program continues to be the best it can be.

Why did Ann chose to get involved with GiGi’s?

“I had a very positive experience with former students who had Down syndrome in the past and wanted that experience again. I want to help give participants a voice.”

Ann’s #bestofall “Working at GiGi’s has given me back a sense of purpose and a feeling of family outside of my home.”

Would Ann suggest others get involved at GiGi’s “Absolutely!” and her advice for anyone just getting started at GiGi’s is to “Be flexible and ready for hugs.”

A fun fact about Ann is: “I crochet and donate newborn hats for the hospital birth centers.”

Ann’s favorite quote is:

“A person’s a person, no matter how small.” Horton the Elephant – via Dr. Seuss

Ann has been a great addition to the team at the Playhouse. She played a big part in our expansion, increasing programming opportunities, reaching the Center of Excellence status for programming, and achieving our national best of all award last fall.

Thank you, Ann, for all you do for our Playhouse, families, and volunteers!