Friendship Circle (organization)

Friendship Circle is a charity for children and young people with special needs. The organization is run by the Chabad Hasidic movement. The organization pairs Jewish high school student volunteers with children with special needs.[1][2]

For the sculpture in Portland, Oregon, see Friendship Circle (sculpture).

Activities

Friendship Circle organizes walkathons to raise funds for children with special needs.[3][1] Other initiatives include art auctions.[4][5]

A New Jersey chapter of Friendship Circle opened a "LifeTown" center in Livingston, a multi-faceted center where young people with special needs can learn life skills in a supportive environment.[6] The center includes therapy and health facilities as well as an aquatics center. LifeTown Shoppes have stores and businesses where young people can learn life skills with the help of volunteers and professional staff.[7][8] The center provides services to 30,000 young people each year. The center is modeled after a Michigan center.[9]

Some Friendship Circle chapters have turned to founding social enterprise programs employing young people with special needs, such as bakeries[10][11] and thrift shops.[12]

References
  1. "Friendship Circle walkathon aims to raise big bucks for special-needs kids". J Weekly. 1 June 2017.
  2. "Friendship Circle Directors Turn to Michigan Suburb Where it All Started". www.chabad.org.
  3. Schmitt, Alyssa. "Record-breaking crowd of 1,300 walk for Friendship Circle". Cleveland Jewish News.
  4. "Artists With Special Needs Draw Crowd to Wisconsin Auction". www.chabad.org.
  5. "Creating Art from Disability". The Media Line. 31 January 2017.
  6. Dolsten, Josefin. "A Chabad couple in New Jersey builds an immersive village for kids with autism". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  7. "Friendship Circle declares milestone". New Jersey Jewish News - NJJN. Archived from the original on 2016-07-10. Retrieved 2017-10-30.
  8. "'Life Village' will teach life and job skills".
  9. "N.J. nonprofit slated to build $13M complex for special-needs youth in Livingston". Daily Record.
  10. Fello, Julia (14 September 2017). "Milwaukee bakery employs people with special needs". TMJ4.
  11. "Entrepreneurs have a head start with Jumpstart". J Wire. 13 February 2017.
  12. "The Trendy Boutique That Employs People With Special Needs". www.chabad.org.
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