Chris and Carissa's Sweetheart Story

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, we wanted to talk about one of the amazing couples we know through our organization, and crazily enough, who met because of First Downs and the Down Syndrome Guild! This prom King and Queen, Chris and Carissa, are in fact dating!

This is them.

Fairy tale couple right?

The beginning of their journey together reads like it’s right out of a storybook. Their first encounter was at our wine auction in 2012. Both of them were scheduled to talk about the Kansas City Down Syndrome Guild’s prom, which the proceeds of the wine auction go towards every year. When Chris first saw her, he was enamored. “When we first met, I was amazed how beautiful she looked and she took my breath away.”

Talk about Prince Charming! It wasn’t one sided though. Carissa was just as interested after spending the majority of the event talking with Chris. After the night was over, Carissa remembers telling her mom that “I had met the most wonderful man ever and hoped I would get to see him again!”

With a little help from Carissa’s mom and Chris’ sister, the couple got back in contact through Facebook. After a month of talking to each other, they set up their first date for dinner and a movie. Chris remembers working on conversation starters with his sister because he had the first date jitters. But when he got there, all the prep wasn’t necessary; with Carissa leading the way, they had an amazing first date night together!

Now, the couple is going on 4 years together. They love going to movies together, eating out at restaurants, bowling, going to dances, and as Carissa put it, “just being together.”  Another special something that brings them together is their shared love of sports.

Both of them participant in Special Olympics; Chris is an avid swimmer, often medaling in his swim events while Carissa participates in bowling, swimming, basketball, softball, track and field, tennis, and bocce. This Valentine’s Day, they’re planning their festivities around a basketball tournament. But they definitely have plans.

“We’re planning to go out for dinner and a dance,” said Carissa. “I want to take him out for dinner and give him a Valentine’s Day card.” Chris, or Mr. Wonderful as Carissa calls him, isn’t quite sure what to get his girlfriend quite yet. “Let’s just say I’m a sweet and perfect boyfriend. Just sometimes I don’t know what to get her!”

Wherever they decide to go and whatever Chris decides on for a present, we’re excited to see these two happy together! We hope the happy couple and all of the lovebirds out there will have a lovely Valentine’s Day.

Rachel Rings in the New Year

As the first month of the new year passes us by, we have more amazing individuals we wanted to spotlight. One of those would be Rachel, an adventurous young lady who is enjoying her new year and looking forward to achieving new goals in 2016. Rachel is one of the talented young ladies we work with at FDFDS. We talked to Rachel about what she did to celebrate her New Year’s and what her goals are for 2016.

Rachel and her good friend Anna with Big Red, the Hogs mascot

Returning to the place she was born, Rachel and her family went to Memphis for their New Year’s celebration, not only to see friends and family but to attend the Liberty Bowl. After spending her New Year’s with old friends, Rachel watched the Kansas State Wildcats and Arkansas Razorbacks battle it out. Being a huge Hogs fan, Rachel and co. were beyond thrilled when the Razorbacks beat the Wildcats a whopping 45-23.

Rachel, her friend Anna, and the Razorbacks cheerleaders

After kicking off 2016 with friends, family, and a team victory, Rachel returned home to Kansas City with exciting goals for the new year. Like any 16 year old, Rachel is starting to have college on the mind and with it, scholarships. One of her goals for the year is to start visiting colleges so she can narrow down her favorite choices over the next couple years of high school.

Another major goal that Rachel plans to achieve is to attend a mission trip and share her faith with others on an upcoming visit to New Orleans. Rachel is a devoted churchgoer at Blue Valley Baptist Church, with whom she’s going on her mission trip, and enjoys spending time with her congregation. “I like people to know about Jesus’ love. I love spending time with my friends from church. It [the mission trip] will be fun. I want to tell children about Jesus.”

Rachel and her parents at the Liberty Bowl

Rachel is dedicated to not only her faith and education, but also to her friends. During her spring break this year, Rachel has made plans to visit her friend Oksana who attends Vanderbilt. Because of their great program for young adult individuals with developmental disabilities, her friend’s college is on the list for schools Rachel wants to visit. Though the trip is still a couple months away, Rachel is already getting excited. “I love my friend Oksana and I have been wanting to visit her. I want to go to college so I’m visiting her school.”

We are so excited for all Rachel has planned for her 2016! There’s no doubt that a motivated young woman like her will achieve everything she sets out to do. We at FDFDS wish Rachel and her family all the best in the new year and we look forward to seeing her accomplishments!

New Year, New Goals

Happy 2016! With the holidays behind us and the new year ahead of us, we have so much to look forward to. Not only as an organization, with hopes to increase our outreach and support base, but also as a community of individuals who seek to better ourselves.

One of the individuals who enjoyed both his holiday and birthday gifts (thanks to a Christmas birthday!) as well as his opportunity to make the new year a new amazing chapter is Ander Vesce. Ander is one of the many awesome people we work with at FDFDS.

Ander is also a member of the Mission Project, an amazing service program we support that assists developmentally challenged adults to live and work with minimal support. Ander has been an amazing part of the program. One part that he loves in particular is his job at the Hen House in Fairway where he’s been working and supporting himself for the last 16 years. We decided to ask him what gifts he got and how he celebrated his New Year’s, as well as what goals he’s made for himself in 2016.

Ander during the holidays

Though Ander loved all his gifts from his 2015 celebration, which included DVD’s, CD’s, and four Target gift cards, his favorite gift was a plane ticket to Los Angeles to visit a close friend of his he made working at Hen House over the years. A hard worker like Ander deserves the vacation time!

Being a true Kansas City fan, Ander also got some other awesome gifts relating to his favorite local teams. He received a KC Royals World Series Championship t-shirt as well as a Chiefs jacket. Another favorite was the Jurassic World DVD he’d been wanting. Somewhat of a film buff, Ander has already started delving into his new collection. “I have watched my movies many times! I just love them.”

Ander kicked off his New Year with an exciting night. He and all the participants of both the Mission Project and Mission Project 2 met up for a New Year’s celebration at the Lucky Brewgrille, a restaurant located not far from the Mission Project center. Ander and his friends ate food and danced the night away to his favorite artist, Michael Jackson. After a night of fun, he returned home to finish his year watching one of his new movies.

Along with the new year, Ander made a New Year’s resolution to himself. His resolution was to keep a good habit of his, which is his routine of swimming an hour after work each day. We’re not saying Ander has webbed toes, BUT we will say he’s been an avid swimmer for many years! He’s even won a gold medal at the Special Olympics for his superior swimming skills. Every year, he recommits himself to practicing his sport and he shows no sign of slowing down.

We’re so happy to hear about Ander’s continued success in the Mission Project and his continued commitment to himself to continue his awesome swimming skills. Hopefully all of our 2016’s will start off just as amazing!