GiGi's Playhouse is moving. Not far. Just right next door. But its new space will be significantly bigger, which will permit it to do what it does best, better.

"It means we're not going anywhere," said GiGi's Playhouse of Lancaster's program coordinator, Alisha Fitzwater. "We're really grounded here in Lancaster with families and volunteers and everything. ... We provide a lifetime commitment to our families, from prenatal all the way up to adults. Once we meet a family, we want to be here for the whole family the rest of the way."

GiGi's Playhouse, Down Syndrome Achievement Center of Lancaster, recently entered into a seven-year agreement to lease a 7,400-square-foot space at 2501 Oregon Pike, Lancaster. That building will offer three times the space that GiGi's Playhouse currently occupies at 2503 Oregon Pike.

While the move has already begun, it can't be completed until a few construction and technical loose ends are tied up at the new location. A grand reopening is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 11, 2024.

"It will be a lot better," said Fitzwater. "Our largest group of individuals with Down syndrome are adults, and now they're meeting in a playroom full of toys. We're going to give them their own age-appropriate space. We've been running a cooking space, but not in a realistic kitchen. Now, we're going to have a full kitchen. There will be quiet, distraction-free rooms. It's going to give more opportunities for our participants to be reached."

In addition to the teaching kitchen, the new space will feature therapeutic play areas, four learning labs for math and literacy tutoring and areas for adult vocational training. Through grants from local foundations and donations from families, friends and local businesses, about half of the $250,000 needed to renovate the new space has already been raised.

"Right now, it's just one big room," said Fitzwater. "We pretty much do everything on the floor or on the kitchen table. Families are always invited, and siblings are always invited. We keep expecting growth. We have about six new families each month. We want to keep doing what we're doing in a better space."

Lancaster is home to one of 57 GiGi's Playhouses in the United States and Mexico and is the only one located in Pennsylvania. The Oregon Pike location serves families affected by Down syndrome living within an hour's drive of Lancaster, free of charge.

Since the location's opening in January of 2020, the number of families that Gigi's Playhouse of Lancaster serves has tripled to about 400.

"Down syndrome is just something that happens at conception," said Fitzwater. "It doesn't discriminate. Any woman of any age can have a baby with Down syndrome. (The people with Down syndrome) need us to come along side of them and be there for the parents. They take a lot longer to learn life skills. They just need a little extra hands-on attention."

For more information on GiGi's Playhouse of Lancaster, go to http://www.gigisplayhouse.org/lancaster.