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Down Syndrome Achievement Center Creates Virtual Classes, Provides Hope During Pandemic

This article is more than 3 years old.

When Erin Komacki's second daughter Hope was born with Down Syndrome, she was immediately worried about her future. What would life be like for her? Would she be accepted? How would their family's lives change? The fear was almost too much to bear. 

Komacki's own mother grew concerned about her daughter's anxiety. Two days after Hope's birth, she walked into their local Gigi's Playhouse - as both a mom and a grandmother - and asked for help. She’d heard about their educational and support services for families with children who have Down Syndrome, and thought if anyone could help, they could.

After visiting Gigi’s Playhouse a few weeks later herself, Komacki’s life was forever changed.

"I immediately felt like we had a home that understood us," Komacki said. 

"I left feeling like I could do this. I have people who are going to surround us with love and support." 

The next six years were nothing short of a blessing for the Komacki family. Komacki would take both her neurotypical older daughter and Hope to free classes at the center that provided education on sign language, literacy, and math tutoring, and even fun fitness and dance classes. Gigi's Playhouse quickly became a second home.  

And then the Covid-19 pandemic began, and the 48 Gigi's Playhouses across the United States, including Komacki's, shut their doors.

"Everything was ripped away. All our support for Hope and our older daughter Sarah, our second home, was ripped away from us," Komacki said. 

Although the physical doors closed on March 13, the nonprofit leaders worked tirelessly to come up with a plan to continue providing for the 25,000 individuals with Down Syndrome and their families who utilize their services. 

"It was the hardest thing I ever had to do,” said Nancy Gianni, Founder and Chief Belief Officer at Gigi's Playhouse. 

“Closing meant 4,400 hours a week of free therapy and programs would now be suspended indefinitely for families. It was devastating." 

Gianni, from South Barrington, Illinois, founded Gigi's Playhouse 18 years ago after her fourth child, her daughter Gigi, was born with Down Syndrome and two holes in her heart. After her birth, Gianni felt a wave of negativity by doctors, neighbors, friends, and even family— all of whom she says treated Gigi as a diagnosis and not a baby.

"Once I brought her home, she was this amazing baby like my other kids were, and I thought, 'How do we bring positive energy to this diagnosis?" Gianni said.

"I started thinking about other families who have children with Down Syndrome, and it was essential to me to allow families to start on a positive note." 

 That's when the idea for Gigi's Playhouse was born. Gianni used her marketing and advertising background to start the nonprofit, which began as an awareness campaign. But then, through talking with other parents, it transformed into an achievement center.

"I didn't know what I was walking into, but parents came in and said, 'Our kids need help with literacy,' so we started literacy tutoring. They said their kids needed help with fitness, so we started fitness classes. We started career skills, and everything we did came from a need," Gianni explained.

Eighteen years later, the center has expanded from one to 48 playhouses across the United States with 12 startups in various phases and hundreds of inquiries to open worldwide. The center works with people with Down Syndrome and their families of all ages— from babies to the elderly. 

They offer prenatal diagnosis and support, motor skills training, language and reading support, and one-on-one tutoring in literacy and math. They also provide physical therapy based fitness programs, speech therapy, social interaction programs, and career skills. 

Every class is free. 

Gigi's Playhouse had only offered classes at their in-person programs but was working on virtual programming to be rolled out in 2021 as part of an app and learning management system project. When the pandemic struck, they immediately shifted gears.

Gianni said they worked day and night with all hands on deck and introduced live and on-demand programming to their clients within a week.

"Our families went from having full-day programs for their kids to having nothing and just being at home. And now parents were faced with working from home while their children were home and navigating a 24/7 diagnosis with no tools and none of their support from their Playhouse, school or therapist," Gianni said. 

"It was a scary time for them, and we knew we had to get this done." 

From the moment Gigi's Playhouse live and on-demand classes launched, they saw an increase in participants: Gianni said the first class that went live had 154 participants from 17 different states. They also saw a rise in people participating from other countries and even with various disabilities. They expanded their classes, too, and were even teaching about Covid-19 and the importance of wearing masks.

"People who were not able to utilize Gigi's programming before because they didn't live near a playhouse can now utilize our programming," Gianni said. "It's our Covid-19 silver lining".

Rose Busque, whose 11-month-old daughter has Down Syndrome, was devastated when the Detroit Gigi's Playhouse closed due to the pandemic. She was ecstatic when the classes shifted virtually.

"My daughter has been able to grow using Gigi's Playhouse online classes," said Busque, 34.

"We do more with virtual learning than we did in person."

Because of the pandemic, Gigi's Playhouse also had to cancel 50 fundraising events responsible for 76% of its revenue. Because of the cancellations, the nonprofit lost around $2.4 million. After rolling out virtual classes, they launched their first virtual fundraising event called "Step to Accept" to make up for some lost revenue. 

"It was a virtual run, walk and ride and it was launched at all Gigi Playhouse locations," said Gianni.

"It was an amazing fundraiser, and we ended up raising $1.3 million." 

As the weeks go by, Gianni is working with various locations to gear up for reopening. New safety protocols have been put in place when locations do reopen, although the dates and timeline vary by specific location and state. But in the meantime, virtual success has been truly astounding, and the Gigi's Playhouse team continues to plan more virtual events. 

Komacki is so thankful and in awe of how, amid a global pandemic, the nonprofit leaders were able to pivot so quickly and continue helping families like hers. 

"Of course, Gigi's was able to get classes up and moving quickly after shutting down. It's because their commitment to the Down Syndrome community is unparalleled," said Komacki. 

"They will do everything they need to do to make sure our kids aren't left behind."

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