October is National Down syndrome Awareness month. As the month comes to an end, we wanted to speak with Kim Jones, Program and Volunteer manager of Gigi's Playhouse Fort Wayne, about what she wishes we understood about Down syndrome, the impact of recent cuts to the department of special education, and how we can work to be better allies and advocates to our friends in the community and beyond.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: I'm joined now by Kim Jones, program and volunteer manager for Gigi's Playhouse. Fort Wayne, thanks for being here, Kim.
Kim Jones: Thanks for having me.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: So, for those who may not be familiar, can you start by telling us about what Gigi's Playhouse is and what kind of work you guys do to support individuals with Down Syndrome and their families.
Kim Jones: Yes. So, Gigi's Playhouse is a Down Syndrome Achievement Center. We are one of sixty-two locations nationwide, including two in Mexico and a fully functional online virtual Playhouse that can be reached by over ninety countries now. So we provide absolutely free programming focused on health and nutrition and just being the best version of yourself. It's a great place. It's very it's a place that they can come and just be themselves. And we see them for who they are, and we meet them where they're at and try to help them get to just that next level of independence and confidence and being healthy.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: Yeah, could you talk a little bit about some of the programs you guys have?
Kim Jones: Yeah, I actually also teach Gigi U, which is our post-high school job transition program, and they come for 15 weeks, three days a week, and they're learning health and nutrition. They're learning how to be confident, how to speak clearly.
We work with PFW Speech and Language Pathology students. They come in and offer free speech for us. We also work with some of the other colleges in the area, Trine, OT and PT students come in, and they run some programs for us for health and fitness.
And it's just great to have the local community and the support of the colleges and those programs help us, because those are going to be professionals one day, and we really hope that by meeting them when they're in college, they can really experience our friends without a bias lens, and just really see them for who they are. And it is. It's been amazing to see that transformation.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: Oh, that's awesome. And I know, yeah, I know you guys do like, thousands of hours of programming every month
Kim Jones: We average between a thousand and twelve hundred hours of free programming a month.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: Yeah, that's amazing.
Kim Jones: Yeah, it's incredible. And we couldn't do it without volunteers. We're 99% volunteer run, and so, to have the community support is really where it's at. We don't take any government funding at all, and so we really just rely on grants and donations from the community. So, it's pretty amazing what we do and what we're able to do with those resources.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: Yeah, so we wanted to talk because it's coming to the end of the month, and October is National Down syndrome Awareness Month. What are some of the important things that you wish people understood about individuals with Down syndrome?
Kim Jones: Oh, my goodness, once you've met one person with Down syndrome, you've met one person with Down syndrome. Everyone's unique in their own ways. They all have special gifts, and they all have just the hearts, pure hearts.
And when given opportunities, like everybody else, they really excel. It may take them a little longer, and it may they may need a little bit more assistance to get there, but they're fully capable humans and that's just it. They're incredible humans. They can do incredible things, and they just need people to support them and love them and and really help them get where they can be the best version of themselves.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: And I know, I know awareness is important, but we also want to move from not just awareness but also acceptance.
Kim Jones: Yes.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: So could you talk about what acceptance looks like to you and how we can all work to build a more inclusive world that celebrates individuals with Down syndrome?
Kim Jones: Yeah, absolutely. Our entire mission is that. Our entire mission is to change the way the world views Down Syndrome and also send a global message of acceptance for all. So we really, truly just care about individuals as individuals, inclusion is fabulous, and we love inclusion. It's great to have a place that they can come and be themselves, but also get their confidence to where then they can go out into the community and show that to the rest of the world.
We have a functioning health bar attached to Gigi Playhouse, and so they can come, they can learn the job skills in Gigi U, and then they get to graduate and funnel into that health bar to get realistic practice, right?
So we have a walk-in. People can come in and get sandwiches and healthy wraps, smoothies. We also do a lot of catering as well. So we're giving them those realistic jobs, those realistic activities, and they really rise to that challenge. And then our whole thing is, you know, we know how wonderful you are at Gigi's, we want you to show the world how wonderful you are.
So, it's really equipping them with every tool we can give them, and then for them to go out and show the world that they do deserve everything anyone else does.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: That's awesome. And the smoothies are delicious.
Kim Jones: They're pretty amazing, yeah, and our friends make the smoothie recipes. They do. They help with the marketing and everything.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: Something else I want to discuss is, you know, under this Trump administration, there have been several proposals and actions affecting the Department of Education, and specifically the special education programs. You know, this has included staff layoffs, grant cancellations, new budget plans that propose completely restructuring special education funding.
So, could you talk about how that may impact individuals with Down syndrome and their families who may rely on that support?
Kim Jones: Absolutely, it's, you know, we don't know the end result of what's going to happen, but obviously, when, when we kind of take away things that are in place to help them be successful, it is pretty sad. You know, we see it as just another hurdle, then for our friends and another, another barrier, and we just hope that we can still keep providing those services so they do get that education. We want them to be successful. They can learn how to read and how to do all the other things that everyone else can.
So really taking that away, it's really sad for us to see that, but we're going to continue to offer our free math and our free literacy tutoring, and we're going to just keep plugging away, because, you know, that's at the end of the day, we can't control what's happening, but we can control how we react.
And I think for us, it's sad, but it's also we're just going to dig our heels in and continue to do our mission, and hopefully people will see that those IEPs are important, that those that those students do need just some, some different-they have different challenges. So it is kind of sad to see those go away.
We're just going to continue to advocate and to be a voice for our friends with disabilities, of all disabilities or different abilities, as I prefer to say, because they do have different abilities, I just hope and pray the world one day will see those that they'll see that they do have value and not continue to take away, but rather build up.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: Absolutely. As we recognize Down syndrome Awareness Month, what is one message that you'd like to leave our audience with about the Down syndrome Community and how we can all be better allies and advocates for them?
Kim Jones: Oh, man, they're incredible humans. Just, just be kind. That saying in a world where you can be anything, be kind. Kindness goes a long way. And I think some people just don't understand them and that's okay. At one point in my life, I didn't either, and then I got to know them. And to know them is to love them, and to love them is to want to continue to advocate for them.
Yeah, that's my life mission, is just to be a light for them and to give them something that, unfortunately, the world doesn't always see their value, but we sure do. I just encourage you to come in and see that in real life. Yeah, that's kind of where I'm at.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: I think on your website, it said something like, “you'll never leave not smiling” which that has been true for me.
Kim Jones: Oh my gosh. I always say, working in human services, you don't go into it for making money, for sure, that's not why we do what we do. But man, the bonus of getting hugs all day is really, it's life changing. It's it's really transforming.
My life has been exponentially changed for the positive with having people with disabilities in my life, so much to the fact that we have a young man that lives with us now with Down syndrome, and we're able to give him a family and not just living but thriving.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: That's amazing.
Kim Jones: That’s the goal for everybody.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: You're the best, Kim. Thank you so much for speaking with me today.
Kim Jones: Oh my gosh, thank you so much for having me.
