GiGi U Immersion Week

Last Friday, we wrapped up one of our favorite weeks of the year, GiGi U Immersion Week! This is a week where we invite current, former, and prospective participants to a fabulous, fun-filled week. During this week, we focus strongly on building social bonds with our friends, old and new, and community engagement. We began the week at the Playhouse with an awesome day of team-building and tie-dye! We played some fun team-building games that let us get to know our new friends a little better and learn more about ourselves too. Then, we went outside to play our favorite game, Gaga Ball, and get to work tie-dying our GiGi U Immersion Week 2023 shirts! The shirts turned out great! On Tuesday, we met at the Playhouse again to do a program spotlight on one of GiGi’s Rockford’s favorites, GiGi’s Kitchen! We worked in our two kitchens in the Playhouses to make some delicious tacos. We had everyone on their feet helping out to make our meal. It was a yummy way to practice our life skills and bond with our friends.

Wednesday, we started our community outings! We had the privilege of going to Midway Village for the first time, and we had a blast! We started out in the indoor museum and got a look at their new hands-on exhibit, where we got a first-hand look into what Rockford would have looked like when it was first settled. Including model shops and homes you could enter and old-timey clothing we could try on. Then, we took a walk around the Village, where we got more ideas about what life might have been like way back then. Our participants loved getting to experience all of the history Midway Village let us in on. Thursday was our second community outing, and we went back to one of our favorite places, Nicholas Conservatory! The program staff was so great at being flexible with us while we navigated the intense weather with a dangerous heat advisory, and we had a great time! We got to make our own lip balm and ornaments with spices from the garden. We also got to spend some time in the actual conservatory, and while it was hot, we had a great time enjoying the beautiful plants and flowers. We have so much gratitude to these amazing organizations for having us!

On our final day of Immersion Week, we were back at the Playhouse for a crazy fun carnival day! We had our popcorn machine and cotton candy maker out, giving us the full carnival experience. We also played all of our favorite carnival games and had an epic dance party to top it all off. What an amazing week! Thank you so much again to our friends at Midway Village and Nicholas Conservatory, who were more than ready to embrace us and give us a fantastic time! If you are interested in having your 18+ participants attend Immersion Week, make sure you’re watching our calendar and Facebook page!