28 | AUGUST 25 • 2022

T

he Friendship Circle of Michigan
nominated Nancy Schulist of
Farmington Hills to be our
Volunteer of the Week for her years of
dedication to the organization.
“The special thing about Nancy is
that once she leaves Friendship Circle,
she doesn’t stop being an advocate
for children with special needs,” said
Shayna Shemtov, Friendship Circle’s
volunteer coordinator.
“She brings love and acceptance to
people wherever she goes, be it in a
park or a grocery store. She’s someone

we can count on to spread the message
of belonging to everyone!”
Schulist’s inspiration to volunteer at
the nonprofit came from her passion to
help kids after college.
“I was working as a teaching assistant
for third graders. And I just tended to
gravitate toward the kids who had spe-
cial needs,” she said.
Years later, Schulist began looking
for a place to volunteer. When she
stumbled across an article about the
Friendship Circle, she went to the
facility to learn more. There she saw

Friendship Circle’s Lessons for Life
Program at Weinberg Village. Weinberg
Village is the organization’s cityscape,
where children with special needs come
to experience life skills in a safe, con-
trolled environment.
“I took one look at that village, and
they described the school visits to me. I
was so impressed, amazed and excited,”
she said.
“On the spot, I immediately knew
I wanted to be a part of it,” Schulist
explained.
Fifteen years later, Schulist continues
to volunteer her time at the village once
a week.
Throughout the years, Schulist has
volunteered in multiple spots through-
out the village, but said she tends to
enjoy the park area the most, where she
gets to interact as a policeman with the
kids.
“Since I’ve been volunteering for so
many years, some of the kids come back
for return visits. I get to see the prog-
ress they’ve made, and they remember
me, and I love it!”
Schulist says she likes being able to
create new experiences for the kids
while finding ways to turn them into
teaching moments. She recalls one
experience where she taught a valuable
lesson about speeding tickets.
“I try not to give tickets … just
warnings and they learned,” Schulist
explained.
But there was one boy who, she says,
was speeding through the park even
after she gave him warnings.
“This boy would look for me over
his shoulder and then break the rules.
I thought to myself, ‘I think I’m going
to have to give my first ticket,’” Schulist
said.
“I went over to him and said, ‘You
know, you’ve had too many warnings,
and so forth.’ And I gave him a ticket.”
The boy seemed happy and proud
to get a ticket, she said. Schulist used
this moment as a teaching opportuni-
ty, explaining how a ticket isn’t a good
thing.
Recently, when the boy visited the vil-
lage, Schulist said he came by the park

Meet Nancy Schulist, who teaches life
skills to students with special needs.

Lessons of
Life Through
Volunteering

RACHEL SWEET ASSOCIATE EDITOR

OUR COMMUNITY
VOLUNTEER OF THE WEEK: