For as long as she can remember, Amber Pinon’s passion has always been helping children with special needs.
She says that having a brother with Down syndrome and autism fueled her love and energy for disabled children, and her personal experience as a child in gymnastics grounded her community-focused values. That's why she ultimately founded “A Special Twist” — an open gym for kids that Pinon describes as being just a little different.
“I think it’s a really good experience for other families to come in and realize how amazing this community is, and it's really opened doors for kids to experience new relationships in that aspect, which has been fun,” Pinon said.
In this gymnasium, all children and those with special needs can safely do back flips, jump around, or play in the ball pit, and parents know they are in good hands.
Amy Morris, mother of two special-needs children who attend the gym on a weekly basis, says, "Amber is so patient and kind and loving. It's like leaving your kids with 'Auntie Amber.' They get their energy out here and their sensory needs met.”
But after three years in the heart of Grover Beach, the building where the gym currently lives will be put up for sale this week, leaving Pinon with no choice but to find a new location.
"I’m a little anxious, just as a human. It’s not knowing exactly what's going to happen. The building next door was put on the market last month and it sold very quickly but this could be a different situation,” she said.
Pinon realizes the future of this gym is uncertain and parents whose children come to the gym every week are worried.
“If this place wasn’t here, there wouldn’t be another place for my kids,” Morris stressed.
Pinon hopes to rent a warehouse at an affordable price but is concerned with recent rent spikes in the area. Still, she has high hopes that something good will happen.
"I do it not because we make money, I do it because I love it. I think it's an amazing testimony for what the Lord can do for the gym and our families,” she said.
And while Pinon searches for the next location to offer these children some fun, the current owner of the building says that at least for now, there are no potential buyers.
