NOVEMBER 21 • 2019 | 41
was time to find it a home of its
own. In 2005, Friendship Circle
moved into a new 5,000-square-
foot building. This would later
become the 23,000-square-foot
Ferber Kaufman Lifetown on
the campus of the Meer Family
Friendship Center. Five years
later, a generous gift created
the Florene and Edward Elkus
Memorial Gym.
Friendship Circle now has
afterschool programs, respite
services, weekend Sunday
Circle, the Morrie and Cybil
Fenkell volunteer club and
many other family and “
Buddy”
programs.
Friendship Circle also houses
the groundbreaking Lessons
for Life Program. The Lessons
For Life program enables teach-
ers to use Friendship Circle’
s
cityscape, known as Weinberg
Village, to teach valuable life
and social skills. Run by vol-
unteers, this fully functioning
“
town”
welcomes thousands of
students from schools across
Michigan each year.
In 2016, the Friendship Circle
Farber Center opened as the
home of Friendship Circle Soul
Projects. Soul Projects expands
Friendship Circle’
s services into
the lives of adults with special
needs. The center is home to
the Dresner Soul Studio, Soul
Cafe and Fetter Hall. The café,
gallery and art studios allow
young adults the opportunity
to learn vocational skills and
explore their talents.
“
Friendship Circle has
become a vital organ in our
community,”
Levi says. “
It’
s
needed, essential and integral.
It has also become an example
for Friendship Circles across
the country. As we celebrate
25 years of service, we know
now more than ever it is our
responsibility to ensure its sus-
tainability.”
Creating the Friendship
Circle Endowment Fund will
ensure the organization will
continue to sustain, grow
and expand. It will also allow
Friendship Circle to remove all
financial hardship from anyone
who wants to participate in its
programs.
“
This organization is a fam-
ily,”
Levi says. “
A true circle of
friends that extends to every-
one who has been touched by
someone within Friendship
Circle.”
Thousands of individuals,
now spanning across the globe,
have had the opportunity to see
their beauty within, all because
one couple asked the question,
“Who needs friends?”
They
then dedicated their lives to
answering the question with
everything they do.
See more stories about Friendship
Circle’s programs in upcoming issues
of the JN.
“This organization is a family,
A true circle of friends that extends
to everyone who has been touched
by someone within Friendship Circle.”
— RABBI LEVI
Get involved go to friendshipcircle.org