The Friendship Circle is a program that pairs local typical students with a special needs child for weekly visits. This offers an absolutely needed FREE service to local special needs families while also providing an invaluable opportunity for the student volunteers to serve their community and develop their life skills. Win/Win!
The daily challenges that special needs families face can be extremely taxing and overwhelming. What can be most distressful of all, however, is seeing how special needs children are often deprived of the basic joys of childhood: things like friendships, play-dates, recreational and social experiences.
This is where Friendship Circle has been a Godsend. Through its "Friends At Home" program, teenage volunteers come to the home of their special needs 'friend' every week and spend quality time with each other. They all have a blast together! Other Friendship Circle programs like Sunday Circle, Sports Circle, Mom's night out and other support groups have likewise been introducing a whole new dimension of joy and connection into the lives of children with special needs and their families.
I have witnessed first hand how this program transforms the lives of special needs children, their families, and the teenage volunteers!
Review from Guidestar
I have worked with Friendship Circle as a music therapist for the past 2 years. It is a phenomenal program that benefits not only children and teens with special needs, but the volunteers and staff that work with these individuals as well. The programming that Friendship Circle provides is top notch - there are creative arts offerings by board-certified therapists, cooking classes, yoga, karate, and sports, all facilitated by highly trained and caring professionals. I highly recommend this program and am happy to spread the word about the fantastic work being done to benefit the lives of individuals with special needs.