Mission Statement

Based on the bedrock foundation of V’Ahavta L’Reacha Kamocha (Love your fellow as yourself), it is the Friendship Circle’s mission to --

• Engage children and teens with special needs through a full range of experiences.
• Provide parents and families of children and teens with special needs with much needed respite and support.
• Enrich, inspire and motivate teenagers through sharing of themselves with others.
• Create a sense of responsibility and connection to the Jewish community for teenagers through educational and social opportunities.

Our Vision

At the heart of all of the Friendship Circle’s programming is the belief that each and every individual can be a productive member of the community and benefit from the social support offered by one’s peers. Friendship, acceptance, and a chance to participate in socially accepted bonding opportunities are critical to achieving this type of inclusive society.

The Friendship Circle aims to provide children and teenagers with autism and other special needs and their families with many of the social and recreational opportunities that are currently available to the general community. These experiences are essential building blocks for an individual to acquire confidence and self esteem and to ultimately lead a productive, normative adult lifestyle.

We envision a world in which people with special needs and their families experience acceptance, inclusion and friendship as contributing members of society. We foresee a future where they never again have to suffer the social isolation that has often been so prevalent in society.

The Friendship Circle aims to create an environment for teens that will nurture and inspire them with meaning, purpose, and self-value; a sense of connection to and responsibility for the greater Jewish community through innovative and stimulating programs. We see this as essential to developing and producing the members and leaders of tomorrow’s Jewish community.