From a young age, I loved being friends with disabilities and dreamed of adopting a child with Down syndrome.
Before 7th grade, I discovered GiGi’s Playhouse and began volunteering, learning more about Down syndrome and its community. I enthusiastically signed up to volunteer for every program my schedule would allow and began to spend two to three nights a week at GiGi’s.
One of my Favorite parts of these early days was I got to volunteer with a cooking club with participants that were my age; they were my peers, and it was so much fun to get to know them! I not only got to be around these middle schoolers with Down syndrome at this program, but I also got to meet another awesome boy.
Hayden was 3 years old when I first met him and had recently been adopted. His mom, Kate, worked at GiGi’s as the program coordinator, so they were at every program I volunteered at. I would get to GiGi’s early just to play with Hayden, and we became inseparable. I looked forward to seeing him every time I went to GiGi’s, and little did I know just how important he would become to me.
I kept volunteering with a variety of programs, and intentionally chose programs where I would get to be with Hayden. GiGi’s introduced me to a few other local nonprofit organizations that supported individuals with Down syndrome and other disabilities, so I got involved with those as well. Basically, anywhere I could be around people with Down syndrome, I was!
Fast forward about a year and a half, and I got to attend my very first GiGi’s Playhouse gala, their main fundraising event of the year. I was shocked to receive an award for my advocacy work within the Down syndrome community and was even more surprised when it was presented to me on a big stage by Hayden’s mom, Kate.
It was one of the best nights of my life and shifted my whole mindset about volunteering as I realized I really was an advocate who could change the world for my friends. Around this time, I also got to be on the news, telling my community about GiGi’s Playhouse and introducing them to Hayden. After these two things, doors just kept opening and I had the coolest opportunities to shout the worth of my friends with Down syndrome.
Now let’s fast forward again, to summer 2020. It was a hard year for all of us, but for me, the greatest gift was getting to spend so much time with Hayden. At this point, his mom no longer worked at GiGi’s, but we still hung out outside of that and went to all sorts of community events together.
This past summer, I was able to babysit him about once a week, which was the most fun I had had in a long time! Being around him so much got me thinking this Down syndrome community had given me so much, now what could I do to give back? In October, as I was praying about all of this, the idea of sending welcome home baskets to children with Down syndrome who were recently adopted came to me.
I started “The Trium Tribe” to send welcome baskets and support for children with Down syndrome who are adopted, while also offering bible studies and future grants.
