An Update on SpinCo Together
Thanks to our community's generous support and grant money from Fund the Flow Arts, SpinCo Together and Kindred Hearts have created an amazing bond through partnership over the past 2 years.
Our two programs joined together on a monthly basis for a 1.5 hour hula hoop class, which was held at Equilibrium Dance Studio from 2017 to 2019.
The volunteers and teachers of SpinCo Together were able to witness the physical, emotional and social benefits of hula hooping for individuals living with intellectual and developmental disorders. Each monthly class brought on a unique set of challenges ranging from maintaining participant engagement, flexibility of teaching material in order to align with participants needs and maintaining class wide focus for the duration of the program. Along with these challenges came even greater successes!
SpinCo Together had several Kindred Heart participants who were dedicated monthly class attendees, which allowed these participants to truly flourish in hooping fundamentals and more. One of our Kindred Heart participants practiced waist hooping for several months before she was able to keep the hoop up. The excitement and sense of self confidence and accomplishment that was experienced by this participant shines a light on one of the reasons why SpinCo Together exists. Another remarkable experience was when we were able to fully engage a non-verbal, young man, who had been hesitant to participate in several previous classes. SpinCo Together was able to meet this participant where he was and build a solid rapport, which helped to create a safe space for this participant to engage in movement arts as a way to physically and creatively express himself.
SpinCo Together is looking forward to what the future holds. We are excited about the endless possibilities of restructuring and expanding our program in order to make a lasting impact on as many individuals and non-profit agencies as possible! We hope you all stick around and join us as we flow forward in our SpinCo Together journey!