{"id":141887,"date":"2026-03-31T11:33:51","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/syracuse\/?p=141887"},"modified":"2026-03-31T13:25:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T17:25:34","slug":"the-power-of-gigis-playhouse-jen-and-izzy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/syracuse\/uncategorized\/the-power-of-gigis-playhouse-jen-and-izzy","title":{"rendered":"The Power of GiGi\u2019s Playhouse: Jen and Izzy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Written by Jen Charles<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I found out I was having a child with Down syndrome, I broke in ways I didn\u2019t expect.

Not because of her\u2026 but because of the fear.
The questions no one can answer.
The overwhelming feelings.

I remember wondering if I was strong enough to be the mom she needed.
I remember crying over the unknowns.
I remember feeling so, so alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And then I found GiGi\u2019s Playhouse.

And slowly\u2026 things changed.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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They didn\u2019t just give Izzy a place to learn, they gave me a place to land.
A place where no one looked at her differently.
A place where I didn\u2019t have to explain anything.
A place that showed me my daughter\u2019s life wasn\u2019t something to fear\u2026 it was something to fight for.

GiGi\u2019s Playhouse Syracuse became part of our story in the most real, life-changing way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now I see Izzy walk in with confidence. I see her trying, learning, growing in ways people said might take longer or might not happen at all.

And I think about that version of me in the beginning\u2026 and I wish I could tell her just you wait! This kid is going to light up the world!

But places like this only exist because people choose to show up.

So this is me, showing up and asking you to do the same.

I\u2019m raising funds for Izzy and all the incredible kids and adults at GiGi\u2019s Playhouse Syracuse.

If you can donate, even a small amount matters
If you can\u2019t, please share this because awareness is everything.

This is bigger than us.
This is about making sure every family walking into this diagnosis doesn\u2019t feel the way I did lost, scared, and alone.
\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9b
Thank you for loving my girl. Izzy Rae
Thank you for helping me turn something that once felt so heavy\u2026 into something so full of purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Written by Jen Charles When I found out I was having a child with Down syndrome, I broke in ways I didn\u2019t expect. Not because of her\u2026 but because of the fear.The questions no one can answer.The overwhelming feelings. I remember wondering if I was strong enough to be the mom she needed.I remember crying…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28492,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/syracuse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/syracuse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/syracuse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/syracuse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28492"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/syracuse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/syracuse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141887\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/syracuse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/syracuse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/syracuse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}