Around the Circle December 20017

Winter 2007

Page 3Welcome Back Program gets underway

Inaugural Newsletter

December 2007 Volume I, Issue IThe Friendship Circle

Page 4A closer look at the Achilles Track Club.

Inside:

Page 5Our community coming together.

B”H

BrIeFsNeWs

Duncan Wyeth seminarBoth our Boys’ and Girls’ Divisions

enjoyed an eye-opening evening with our inspirational guest speaker,

Duncan Wyeth. Duncan is a successful motivational speaker who has cerebral

palsy and shares with others what it feels like to be an adult with special

needs. Volunteers also had the chance to experience a hands-on disability

awareness workshop by means of a Lifeskills lesson in Weinberg Village.

Volunteers were able to step into their special friend’s shoes and experience for

themselves what it is like for children who have special needs to interact in

society.

Mid-Winter sleepoverMake sure to save the date for our

Mid-Winter sleepover on February 14th. Members are invited to sign up their

child for this exciting program and enjoy a night of rest and relaxation while their

child is having fun at LifeTown with a one on one volunteer. Stay tuned for more

details.

Friday Night Dinner for F@H Families - January 11th

Families who benefit from the Friends@Home program are invited to a special

Friday night dinner hosted by our Friends@Home Coordinator on January 11th. Make sure to save the date to enjoy

great company, food and conversation at this event. More information to follow.

Frankel Jewish Academy Volunteer Lunches

Friendship Circle will host a once a month lunch for all our Jewish Academy

volunteers. Volunteers will be able to come to Friendship Circle during school lunch and enjoy delicious, hot food and great entertainment. Make sure to stay

informed through your school presidents regarding details.

Last month, the entire Friendship Circle family endured a grievous loss with the passing of our very dear friend, Morrie Fenkell, patriarch of his loving family and primary patron of our Morrie and Sybil Fenkell Volunteer Club. Morrie lived and breathed compassion and loving kindness. He touched the lives of all who met him with his charming smile, his self-effacing humility, and his ability to connect to and empathize with others. For more than three years, Morrie battled valiantly with pancreatic cancer, never losing hope or faith in better days to come. To the end, he was a beacon of strength, an unwavering fortress of fortitude whose torch has now been passed to all of us. The Friendship Circle mourns the loss of this great hero, our

unflagging friend and champion, Mr. Morrie Fenkell. May his memory be a blessing.

He Truly Made a DifferenceA Tribute to Morrie Fenkell

Dear Friends,

We’re proud to introduce Around the Circle, the Friendship Circle’s premier new peri-odical. The latest events, announcements, plans, activities, happenings and goings-on at the Friendship Circle… it’ll all be right here in Around the Circle. It’s always heartwarming to note our growth—how a few phone calls was all it took to update the entire Friendship Circle when we started 13 years ago. With growth, we expanded to letters and e-mails. Today, we proudly have to keep up with 2,500 visiting school children, 200 children and families who participate in our many programs, 350 members of our Sobel Friendship House division, 800 active volunteers in our Fenkell Volunteer club, almost 2,000 past volunteers and over 3,500 donors. The Circle has gotten quite big. But it’s equally important to note that, in a circle, no point on the circle’s edge is farther away from its center than any other point. They are all equally close. So whether you’re a parent, a present or past volunteer, or a donor, we invite you to keep up your personal connection with us—to stay in the Circle. We still see it as a small circle.

We hope you enjoy this first issue and we welcome your comments and suggestions for future issues—and we hope that Around the Circle fosters a new spirit of togetherness: the spirit of the Friendship Circle.

How We’ve Grown

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Regards,Alon Kaufman Chairman of the Board, The Friendship Circle

Rabbi Levi ShemtovDirector, The Friendship Circle

P.S. We ask you also to please use this newsletter as a way to help us expand our circle by passing it on to friends and family who may have not heard of us.

Welcome

A highlight for many families and volunteers, Winter Camp is always full of fun activities and exciting trips across Metro Detroit. From Sunday, December 23rd through Thursday, December 27th, families can enjoy a worry-free week while their child partakes in activities such as swimming, sports, gymnastics and interactive field trips. A caring volunteer accompanies each child for the week, with additional Friendship Circle staff and therapists on hand to ensure that each child and volunteer is having a safe and fun experience. To find out more or to sign up as a volunteer, call Rivkie at 248-788-7878, ext. 208.

Winter Camp 2007Get With the Program

The “Welcome Back” program of the Daniel B. Sobel Friendship House helps incarcerated and paroled Jewish women with reintegration into the community by offering support, advocacy, friendship and assistance. Specially trained volunteers and counselors visit regularly with Jewish female inmates in various Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) facilities, providing a connection to the community and reducing their sense of isolation. The emphasis is on helping these women maintain their Jewish identity and develop a sense of self-worth despite their circumstances. The program also offers support services for women inmates after they are released; providing professional structure from trained volunteers and counselors who assist the women in fostering their personal growth, community awareness and community involvement. “Welcome Back” volunteers advocating for their inmate/parolee may, for example, assist with finding housing options, job opportunities and a plethora of other resources. The goal is to facilitate a smooth transition back into the community, so that the women can be successful and productive in their new lives, as well as to positively give back to the Metropolitan Detroit Jewish Community and society at large. “Welcome Back” is funded largely by a generous grant from the Jewish Women’s Foundation of Metropolitan Detroit. Although many women are currently being served by the “Welcome Back” program, there are other Jewish women inmates still on the waiting list. If you would like to volunteer for this worthwhile and empowering opportunity, please contact Miriam Silverstein at the Friendship House at 248-788-8888, ext. 5, or [email protected].

- Ronelle Grier

Welcome Back ProgramFriendship House

He Truly Made a Difference

Friendship Circle Winter 2007

Above: Over 30 women participated in a “Welcome Back Training” on November 12th, 2007 at the Daniel B. Sobel Friendship House.The Friendship House is di-rected by Rabbi Yisrael Pinson. To contact him call 248-788-7878 ext. 206, or email [email protected]

How We’ve Grown

Left: Dave Burnett, Special Activites Coordinator at MDOC, addresses the trainees.

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Our good friend Richard Bernstein has partnered with the Friendship Circle to start a Michigan chapter of the Achil-les Track Club, a running group whose mission is to “enable people with all types of dis-abilities to participate in main-stream athletics, to promote per-sonal achievement, enhanced self-esteem and the lowering of barriers between people.” Throughout the spring and summer, runners and walkers met weekly on the West Bloom-field Trail. Each participant was paired with a volunteer who helped them train, with the goal of running or walking in the Detroit Free Press Marathon on October 21st. Occasionally they participated in smaller races or fun-runs as part of the training, including the Livonia Free Run and the Angela Hospice Race.

Jerry Wolffe of the Oakland Press began training in April with his wheelchair. Soon af-ter, he received a hand-cycle.

September kicked off the third year of the Adult Division of the Morrie and Sybil Fenkell Vol-unteer Club. These Volunteers give their time primarily to staff Weinberg Village, our realistic indoor city, so that students with special needs from area schools can come to learn everyday life skills. Since September, more than 1,000 students have made their way through the Village – and the year has just begun.

In addition, our Adult Divi-sion now boasts dance teach-ers, therapists, sports coaches, senseis and music teachers who volunteer their time and professional services to many Friendship Circle programs.

Friendship Circle is well on

380 & Growing

Running for EveryoneThrough training vigorously, he discovered muscles, endur-ance and strength he never knew he possessed. Despite a flat tire at the 16-mile mark of the marathon, Jerry says he ‘was obsessed to go the dis-tance’ and completed all 26.2 miles in just over four hours. Ariel Mann and Sam Morris are two highly motivated and persistent teens who trained with us. Each of them proudly crossed the finish line in the half-marathon race on October 21st. Another thing they have in common – both inspired their parents to join in the train-ing. Ariel’s parents and Sam’s dad all ran the half marathon.

Additional participants com-peted in other events of the Free Press Marathon, including the 5K race and the 5K walk. Many others participated dur-ing our training months for the recreational and social element. A special thanks to Marla Ka-

minsky for her guidance and effort. Friendship Circle would also like to recognize some of our volunteers, many of whom are runners who felt they had achieved their personal goals and now wanted to give back .Thank you Karleen Herbst, Do-ris Highland, Mark London, Jenna Nusholtz and Leah Roux.

Our athletes worked hard

and achieved their goal. And although we are break-ing now for the winter, we look forward to resuming our training in the spring with many more opportunities.For more information please contact Bat-Sheva at 248-788-7878, ext. 213, or e-mail [email protected].

Achilles Track Team

Adult Division

George, Ann and Ariel Mann at the Detroit Free Press Marathon

Left: Florence Dulberg volunteering in the pet store. Above: Nancy Sinelli, Laurie Leeb, Loretta Globerson and Paula Berger in Sav-On Drugs.


its way to another extraordi-nary year, with eager enthu-siasm and a volunteer corps that’s 380 strong and grow-ing! To join the adult divi-sion contact Bat-sheva at 248-788-7878, ext. 213, or e-mail [email protected].

Exploiting a SetbackInspiration“Failure is wasted if you return only to the

place from where you fell. If your plans fail, think bigger, aim higher.”

- From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, adapted by Tzvi Freeman

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Left: Volunteer Steven Yellen (far left) with his two siblings at the starting line. The walk drew 2000 people and rasied over $360,000 to date.

Walk 4 Friendship Making A Difference

Below: (Left to Right) Liliya Bromberg having a good time with her volun-teers Rivka Weingarten, Freida Wrot-slavsky, Rena Lorkis and Shoshana Cohen.

G-d smiled on Friendship Circle’s second annual Walk-4Friendship in many ways on Sunday, Sept. 9. What looked like a rainy day in the morning turned into a breezy, beautiful af-ternoon for the 1,500 people who strode from the Jewish Commu-nity Center in West Bloomfield

to the Meer Friendship Circle Center just west on Maple Road.

Another blessing came in the surprise offer from Ron andRonda Ferber of West Bloom-field to match all dona-tions up to $50,000 that come in through Sept. 23.

“Everyone was on such a high after the walk; the Ferbers just decided to match,” said Friend-ship Circle’s Batsheva Hadar. “We reached our annual goal of $300,000 and can exceed it. The walk is our signature event for the whole year, our major fundraiser.” The funds will go toward programs that help fam-ilies with children with special needs and families facing crises.

“The Friendship Circle walk was really inspirational, just seeing everyone getting together for such an amazing cause,” said Zoe Pinter, 15, of Farmington Hills who attends the Frankel Jewish Academy in West Bloomfield.

A total of 2,000 people attended the event, with about 500 joining festivities at the finish line. Last year’s walk drew about 1,200. “We’re here to support Friend-ship Circle,” said an enthusiastic Daniel Selesny, 7, of Southfield. He was joined by his parents, Chaya and Joe; sister Ariella, 5; and brother Avi, 2. After the walk, they were in the center’s LifeTown area on the lower lev-el, where kids can practice real-life skills in a safe environment.

Several Friendship Circle teen volunteers come to the Selesnyhome regularly to play with the children. “We have a lot of fun

with the volunteers,” Daniel said. “They do projects with us and we go to their house because they have a swimming pool.”

Joe Selesny knows firsthand the good work of FriendshipCircle. “This wonderful pro-gram breeds an air of com-passion and accessibility to children of all kinds,” he said. “Ariella has special needs and Daniel doesn’t, and he doesn’t feel out of place here. That’s inclusion. It’s wonderful. They are always asking how theycan help more, what can they do for us next.

“Thank G-d, we are blessed with a child who is high functioning, but I’ve met other families with more challenges and Friendship Circle offers a place to get help and support. It’s a magical place.”Friendship Circle draws sup-port from all walks of life, Se-lesny said. “Volunteering is the cool thing to do” for teens who often are difficult to engage.“The Walk For Friendship was great. It was my second yeardoing this and I look forward to doing it again next year,” saidMelissa Gildenberg, 17, of West Bloomfield, who attends theFrankel Jewish Academy.

Team Mathew gets ready for the 1 mile walk.


- Keri Guten CohenJewish News - Sept. ‘07

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In Februray 2007, Friendship Circle in West Bloomfield host-ed the first ever International Leadership Shabbaton. More than 60 volunteers, representing 17 of the 65 Friendship Circles across the U.S. and Canada, came together for a weekend conference. There were work-shops, discussions and debates. There was brainstorming, ca-maraderie and shared goals of spreading the Friendship Circle message around the world. “Imprint the World” campaign was lauched, which pairs the Friendship Circle message with

Representing Your School

International

Leaders of

a unique clothing line. Our vol-unteers are committed to seeing that everyone across the globe is accepting of and embraces children with special needs. Also during the weekend, elections were held to name a

President, Vice President, and Secretary of the International Volunteer Club, and in March, 2008 these delegates will return to West Bloomfield, as Friend-ship Circle will once again host

this international convention. As we get closer to the date, more information will be avail-able to volunteers on how they can be a part of this event.

GO 8500 Friend-ship Circle mag-nets have been distributed.

4 Number of feet the tree in the lobby has grown since LifeTown opened.

63 Friendship Circles across the globe, with the West Bloomfield branch being the firs one to open.

10+ Bnei Mitzvah boys and girls with special needs have had their bar/bat mitz-vah through friendship circle

FIgureGO 8500 Friend-ship Circle mag-nets that have been distributed.

4 Number of feet the tree in the lobby has grown since LifeTown opened.

65 Friendship Circles across the globe, with our West Bloomfield branch as the trailblazer.

10+ B’nai Mitzvah boys and girls with special needs have had their Bar/Bat Mitzvah through Friendship Circle

FIgure


FriendshipCircle Presidents 07-08

TomorrowLeadershipShabbaton

Yearbook Ads To pay tribute to the dedication of our volunteers, we have created the Friendship Circle Yearbook. The 2007-2008 edition will be available for distribution at the Volunteer Recognition Event in May 2008. We are asking you to honor all our vol-unteers who commit their time and energy to volunteering for children

who have special needs by placing an ad in the Yearbook. For more information, or to place your ad, call Batsheva at

248 788 7878 ext. 213 or e-mail [email protected]

Get a Head Start!

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From Left to Right: Presidents for 07-08: Dena Berlin (Frankel Jewish Academy), Lindsay Singer (West Bloomfield High School), Shoshannah Newman (Frankel Jew-ish Academy), Jessica Cicurel (West Bloomfield High School), Rebecca Grossman and Lyla Craft, (both of Akiva Day School) Raizel Beck and Nechama Tawil (both of Beth Jacob High School).

From Left to right: Presidents for 07-08: Sam Shreeman and Brian Pesis (both of North Farmington High School), Mark Fischgrund (Cranbrook), Blake Orman (Frankel Jewish Academy), Devin Weiss and Andrew Luckoff (both of Andover High School). Not Present: Daniel Chudnow (Frankel Jewish Academy).

Our International Leadership Shabbaton gathers in the Ferber-Kaufman Lifetown for a photo.

Each year, Friendship Circle elects representatives (Presidents) from local area schools. These representatives then work to re-

cruit new volunteers and promote Friendship Circle within their respective schools. They work closely with the Friendship Circle

Volunteer Coordinator to plan events and programs and make sure schools are current on Friendship Circle happenings. We

congtatulate all our newly elected Presidents who will be repre-senting their school for 2007-08.

New Pilot ProgramFriendship Circle launched a new program called the B’nai Mitzvah Training Pro-gram, aimed at educating boys and girls of Bar/Bat Mitzvah age on how to interact with children with special needs. This course is comprised of two parts: Part One is a six-week, hands-on program that focuses on learning about the challenges of living with disabilities. One activity has the teens walking through Weinberg Village, per-forming various tasks and ac-tions as if they themselves had a particular disability. For in-stance, they may be blindfolded and have to function without sight, or they may wear sound-deafening headphones and have to experience things in silence. This gives the teens an under-standing of the difficulties some of their “special friends” may face and allows them greater in-

sight into how to be helpful and patient. The teens also have an opportunity to hear from a number of featured speakers. Part Two of the program focuses on interaction. Once a month, the teens spend time with stu-dents from the Learning Circle Academy, a school designed ex-clusively for children with com-plex learning disabilities. This is their opportunity to play, social-ize and work together in a safe, secure and supervised environ-ment within Friendship Circle. Fifty boys and girls were enrolled in the training program, and due to its popularity, we hope to schedule another session for May, 2008. To register, contact The Friendship Circle, at 248-788-7878 ext 210, or by email at [email protected].

The Friends@Home Division is the heart and soul of Friendship Circle. Volunteers visit their special friend once a week at their friend’s home. This pro-gram is a little different, as it does not take place at the Fer-ber-Kaufman LifeTown. So, to keep our Friends@Home volunteers feeling connected, we have created some exciting new activities just for them. The Friends@Home Library is a brand new resource room for Friends@Home volun-teers. Through generous dona-tions, this room is stocked with games, puzzles, arts and crafts, and more that volunteers can take to share with their special friends during their visits. If you would like to donate, please visit our “wish list” online at www.friendshipcircle.org.

B’nai Mitzvah Training

House VisitsFriends at Home

Above: Jessica Gross and Ellie Krasnick visit their special friend at home


Top: Boy’s from the B’nai Mitzvah Program pose for a group photo. 15 boys and 35 girls from a variety of schools across Metro Detroit participated in the training. All volunteers received a certificate for completing the training session.

Bottom: B’nai Mitzvah girls learn about living life with a difficulty during a lesson in the Weinberg Village.

A YouTube Contest for Friends@Home volunteers will be under-way shortly. Volunteers will be asked to create videos of them-selves interacting with their special friend and post them online as an ongoing video di-ary. Great prizes will include Pistons and Red Wings tickets, iPod touch, jewelry and more. Special events for Friends@Home volunteers, including our kickoff parties, are sched-uled for December 9th (boys division) and December 16th (girls division). There will be Friends@Home volunteer events every 6-8 weeks, giving volunteers a chance to socialize and meet other volunteers in a fun and relaxed environment. For more information contact The Friendship Circle, at 248-788-7878 ext 210, or by email at [email protected].

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Left: A Friends@Home volunteer plays Jenga with her special friend.

Programs

The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research granted its prestigious Award for Social Entrepreneurship to Rabbi Levi and Bassie Shemtov, founders of the Friendship Circle in West Bloomfield, Michigan. The pair, who established the Friendship Circle in 1994, received the award (which included a $25,000 prize) at a Manhattan Institute ceremony hon-oring five other non-profit leaders. “The Friendship Circle is an institution founded and inspired by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory,” Rabbi Levi Shemtov told the crowd of 200 as he and his wife accepted the honor. He said, “G-d could have created a perfect world, a world free of suffering, a world free of poverty and persecution, free of

illness, injustice and inequality. But he didn’t. He made it imperfect, and he made us imperfect, so that we could perfect it ourselves, and thereby spiritually grow and perfect ourselves.” While Levi addressed the impact that Friendship Circle has on families with children who have special needs, Bassie praised the program for the effect it has on its teenage volunteers. As Bassie explained, “These volunteers, who start out as typical teenagers, are transformed into caring individuals.” Further, Levi explained how Chabad Chasidic thought made the idea of the Friendship Circle possible. “We learn how to look at a person, to look at their soul instead of their body” he explained. “We’re showing people how they can appreciate the beauty of a child with special needs. Every person is valu-able and has a soul within.” According to a report published by the Manhattan Institute, officials were impressed with the commit-ment of local donors to the project and the way it engendered a better acceptance of the developmen-tally disabled in the public at large. “It is too early to judge the long-term impact of their work,” con-cluded the report, “but there is much to like here, including Rabbi Levi and Bassie Shemtov themselves – religious, sophisticated, funny, enterprising and dedicated.” And, referring to LifeTown, it stated: “They have built something unusual, stunning, and for a visitor, engaging.”

With the success of The Friendship Circle in Michigan, over 65 branches of Friendship Circle have sprouted over the past 12 years across the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia.

The Friendship CircleMeer Family Friendship Center

6892 West Maple Road West Bloomfield, Michigan 48322Phone: (248) 788-7878 Fax: (248) 788-7854E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.friendshipcircle.org

Manhattan Institute Award

Non Profit org.U.S. Postage

PaidPermit #770

Farmington Hills, MI

Friendship Circle Division

Lessons For LifeFriends@Home

Torah TeensTorah CircleTorah BoysMartial Arts

Friends@LifeTownBallet

sib Nightssports Night

Life skillsCooking Class

Cub scoutsB’nai Mitzvah Training

(pilot program)Holiday Programs

Day CampOvernight Camp

Mid-Winter sleepoverCedar Point TripFrequent FriendsMiracle Leagueshabbat DinnerVolunteer event

Volunteer TrainingDay Camps

Friendship House Division:

12 step MeetingsJewish recovery MeetingsWomen Helping Women

Welcome Backshabbat Dinnersreferral services

spirituality Classessober Night Outrecovery rabbi

shabbat & Holiday Divisionrecovery Community

recovery Library

An affiliate of The Synagogue Campus of Living Judaism-A Lubavitch Foundation Project

Bassie Shemtov receiving the award at the Manhattan Institute Ceremony.

Around the Circle December 20017

Documents

Transcript of Around the Circle December 20017