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:

