{"id":157733,"date":"2024-05-28T12:15:52","date_gmt":"2024-05-28T18:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/virtual\/?p=157733"},"modified":"2025-01-03T11:33:09","modified_gmt":"2025-01-03T17:33:09","slug":"jordan-spys-a-meaningful-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/virtual\/jordan-spys-a-meaningful-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Jordan SPY\u2019s a meaningful experience\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen discussing ways that I could volunteer my time in a meaningful way, one of my coworkers shared her experiences with GiGi&#8217;s, and I was immediately inspired to get involved. I thought it was so incredible to be able to engage with folks and their families in all parts of the country! I was looking to engage with individuals with Down syndrome and be directly educated about their experiences.\u00a0Currently, I volunteer with the Teen Tastic program for the Virtual Playhouse. Each week, I assist the program leader as they guide participants through games of iSpy,\u201d says Jordan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Teen Tastic is a program for teens which focuses on building social skills with friends and by participating in team-based activities in a casual and fun setting. &#8220;The use of the game iSpy in Teen Tastic is like a visual treasure hunt; each page holds secrets waiting to be found, turning ordinary moments into exciting discoveries for every teen,&#8221; says our Program Coordinator Claire LeBlond. We are very lucky to have had Jordan volunteer with this program for the past 7 months!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile is-style-default\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/virtual\/files\/2024\/02\/Jordan-768x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-157734 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/virtual\/files\/2024\/02\/Jordan-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/virtual\/files\/2024\/02\/Jordan-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/virtual\/files\/2024\/02\/Jordan-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/virtual\/files\/2024\/02\/Jordan-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/virtual\/files\/2024\/02\/Jordan-scaled.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOne moment that stands out to me from my time volunteering is from the first week when I was excitedly greeted by some of the participants when I logged onto the program. Each week before the session starts, we chat about various topics like plans for the weekend, favorite animals, etc. I really enjoy talking with and getting to know each participant. The first time they greeted me with a &#8220;Hi Jordan!&#8221; I felt I had truly made connections!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When I&#8217;m not volunteering with GiGi&#8217;s, I&#8217;m currently working towards my long-term career goal of genetic counseling. I would absolutely recommend volunteering to others! It&#8217;s a wonderful opportunity to engage with individuals with Down syndrome and their families. I love being able to volunteer virtually as it provides an environment to meet folks from different locations. The learning and social opportunities GiGi&#8217;s provides those with Down syndrome and their families is so valuable. Having a role in those opportunities is an <strong><em>incredibly meaningful experience.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8211; Jordan, Teen Tastic virtual volunteer<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cWhen discussing ways that I could volunteer my time in a meaningful way, one of my coworkers shared her experiences with GiGi&#8217;s, and I was immediately inspired to get involved. I thought it was so incredible to be able to engage with folks and their families in all parts of the country! I was looking&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1921,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/virtual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/virtual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/virtual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/virtual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1921"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/virtual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/virtual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157733\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/virtual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/virtual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/virtual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}