My Story with GiGi’s Playhouse: Connection, Inclusion, and Inspiration

I was first introduced to Gigi’s Playhouse when I was in 7th grade- my mom and I had just joined a charity league, and another mom and daughter pair invited us to volunteer at their program, Destination Discovery. The minute I walked in the door, I was welcomed with open arms. Gigi’s is not my first experience with a special needs population, but it was the first time where I was actually taught about different needs and how this can affect people at all different stages of their life, and I think that is really important. One of the biggest steps towards acceptance is an understanding of the other person, and Gigi’s does a really fantastic job of educating volunteers on the different aspects of Down Syndrome, while still showing that the participants are able to do pretty much anything, just maybe in different ways. 

This year will be my 6th year volunteering at Gigi’s, and throughout these years I have experienced different methods of volunteering, different age ranges and people, and different activities. My mom and I started out volunteering with Destination Discovery, where we did crafts, snack time, books, and play time with kids aged 6-12. There was constantly something exciting or interesting happening, and I was able to meet so many amazing families, and even some that I still keep in touch with or see at programs today. About 6 months after getting involved at Gigi’s, my mom and I were offered the opportunity to run our very own program, called Leaps & Bounds, which we still host today. This is one of my favorite programs, and we get to read books to the kids, sing songs, make crafts, and of course play. This program also led to fantastic connections with families, and I even met some kids that I now babysit for. Later on, we were invited to volunteer for Gigi’s Virtual Playhouse, and this led us to creating Story Time, a quick virtual program focused on reading books to kids in the evening. I especially love this one because I get to see families and volunteers that used to live in my area, but then moved away, as well as getting to meet participants from across the country (and compare how much snow everyone is getting).

One of my favorite aspects of our programs, and Gigi’s as a whole, is that I get to think through how we might need to change aspects of our program to better serve a wide range of abilities. While 1 kid might be able to sit in one place for an hour at a time, another might be up and running around within 5 minutes, and we need ways to serve both kids. This was so interesting that it actually helped me decide that I want to be an engineer when I’m older, in order to help make the world a more accessible place for everyone, no matter their abilities. Not only have I met fantastic families and made great connections volunteering here, Gigi’s helped me decide what I want to do with my life. I also really love that Gigi’s gave me something to do with my mom, and gave us a way to connect over something really special to both of us, even with me being a teenager, and I hope to still be able to volunteer this fall when I go to college. I think this is why I love Gigi’s Playhouse so much; there is a space for everyone, whether they be a participant or a volunteer. No one ever considers that the volunteers will benefit as much as participants, in any organization, but here, I think everyone learns something.

Written by Ellery Huffman