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DSAWM Holiday Party

Red flannel background with photos of individuals with Down syndrome at a holiday party, text reads Member Holiday Party, DSAWM logo in lower right corner

DSAWM Holiday Party

Sunday, December 10
2:00 pm to 5:00 pm
SOMI Main Gym
All Ages

*Please park in the West Parking Lot of the building and enter by the gym doors.

Mark your calendars! Our annual DSAWM Holiday Party will be hosted on Sunday, December 10 from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm! This is a free gathering for all of our members to come and celebrate the holiday season!  Our event this year will be a holiday PJ party! We are asking everyone to bring their favorite dip (last names A-L) or dessert (last names M-Z) to share– bring food that is a party favorite! DSAWM will be providing cookies and drinks (including a hot chocolate bar!). There will be plenty of fun activities for all ages that will celebrate the holidays in a cozy environment! We will even have a visit from Santa Claus himself!

Register Here!

Friends Just Like Me

Friday, October 6th
5:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Grand Rapids Children’s Museum in Grand Rapids

Friends Just Like Me is a free social gathering for children with Down syndrome and their families at the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum. Join us for fun activities and to meet other families with children with Down syndrome at this private event!

If you plan to attend, please register here!

“My Hero Brother” is funny, touching and true-to-life – Tom Hackett, DSAWM President

Compliments of The Jewish Federation of Grand Rapids, several members the Down Syndrome Association of West Michigan attended a Monday, May 1, 2017 motion picture at The Jewish Film Festival.  The film was about a difficult but successful mountain climbing adventure by people with Down syndrome and their sisters and brothers. At the end of the film at Celebration! Cinema North viewing of My Hero Brother, James Cook, DSAWM Foundation board member, and Freddy, his brother with Down syndrome, told the audience about their lifelong relationship and their travels as adult siblings to China, Paris, and Rome.  Their stories aligned beautifully with those in “My Hero Brother,” exemplifying the unique relationship between people with Down syndrome and their siblings.

Israeli writer and director Yonatan Nir crafted this 78-minute film about a bonding experience among female and male adult siblings and their adult sisters and brothers with Down syndrome.   In the film, these amateur mountain climbers traveled from Tel Aviv to India to spend two-weeks in the Himalayas.

As Yonatan Nir explains, he hopes the viewers of his film will undergo an experience that will change the way of looking at the main characters – not as ill-fated people who have been given a chance to experience a brief release from suffering, but rather as human beings blessed with qualities many of us yearn to have, struggling with their limitations in an highly admirable and courageous way, and with the ability to open the hearts of those around them and turn them into better human beings.

The experience for the viewers, particularly those of us who are people with Down syndrome or their family members, is funny, touching, and very familiar. Some highlights:

  • One sibling says, when his mountain climbing brother with Down syndrome cries in frustration and exhaustion, “I’ll dry your tears. You don’t need paper.  I’m your paper, here.  Wipe everything on me.”
  • See the intensely blue Himalayan sky and hear one mountain climber tell his brother his Mommy is up there.
  • Listen to a sibling promise his brother with Down syndrome that there will be a village at the top of the mountain and the two them will share a cola—a cold Coke.

I encourage you to find a time and place to view this film.  I believe it will remind you of part of the Down Syndrome Association of West Michigan mission in which we are “promoting public awareness and supporting lifelong opportunities for individuals with Down syndrome and their families.”

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Address

160 68th St. SW, Ste. 110
Grand Rapids, MI 49548
Located inside the Special Olympics Michigan Unified Sports & Inclusion Center

Phone

616-956-3488

Hours

Monday – Thursday | 9:00am – 5:00pm

DSAWM is a proud member of the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, an organization dedicated to significantly improving the lives of people with Down syndrome through Research, Medical Care, Education, and Advocacy.
DSAWM is a proud member of the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, an organization dedicated to significantly improving the lives of people with Down syndrome through Research, Medical Care, Education, and Advocacy.
DSAWM is a member of Down Syndrome Affiliates in Action, an association of local, state, and regional Down syndrome organizations who share experiences, exchange program materials, and find ways to learn from each other.
DSAWM is a member of Down Syndrome Affiliates in Action, an association of local, state, and regional Down syndrome organizations who share experiences, exchange program materials, and find ways to learn from each other.

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