The kids wearing brightly colored socks barely could contain themselves while waiting for Bill and Dawn Buckley to say the magic words.
And at 3:21 p.m. Saturday, March 21, they told the kids to release the balloons, which they did with glee.
The timing was significant because March 21 symbolizes, at least to the Down syndrome community, trisomy 21, the most common gene mutation causing the condition. The balloon launch was significant because the Down Syndrome Association of Northwest Indiana was celebrating both Down Syndrome Awareness Day and the opening of its 5,000-square-foot facility inside the old Highland Pharmacy building on Highway Avenue.
The new building is an upgrade from the 800-square-foot office space the organization is leaving, Dawn Buckley, its executive director, said. The group will be able to continue with tutoring programs, speech development and, perhaps the program most dear to everyone’s heart, the Special Moments in Little Events (SMILE) Group, which gives Down folks from ages 16 to 116 the opportunity to socialize.
The program has been a godsend for Robin Tucker, 20. There were programs for her when she was young, her parents, Glen and Kathy Tucker said, but once she hit 16 or so, she, like many others with Down syndrome, felt like she didn’t quite fit anymore.
The parents with older Down kids would get together and have parties, where they would hang out and do teen things while the adults would convene and just talk about their experiences with having a differently abled child.
The group and the support it offers are a far cry from when Kathy Tucker gave birth to Robin, the Tuckers said. Doctors first filed into the room as if Robin were stillborn, Kathy Tucker said, and then when the social worker came in to talk to them, the first thing she said was, “I’m sorry.”
“We felt shunned by the whole hospital,” Kathy Tucker said. “Now, it’s our personal mission to give hope to anyone who has a Down syndrome child or anyone with special needs, really. We kind of overwhelm them with information and support now, because we never want anyone to feel like we did.
“Our daughter is a gift.”
United Auto Workers Locals 551 and 558, and Carpenters Local 599 have been volunteering time to create the mammoth new office, which will have a kitchen and several other amenities, according to Bill Buckley, president of the Down Syndrome Association of Northwest Indiana board.