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Friendship Circle helps create friendships in the lives of individuals with special needs.  They provide support to individuals with special needs and their families by providing recreational, social, educational, and vocational programming.

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Friendship Circle of Michigan is a non-profit organization affiliated with Lubavitch of Michigan. Our goal is to provide every individual with special needs the support friendship and inclusion that they deserve.

What we do

Friendship Circle provides assistance and support to 3,000 individuals with special needs and their families by providing recreational, social, educational and vocational programming. In addition to helping those in need, the Friendship Circle enriches its vast network of volunteers by enabling them to reap the rewards of selfless giving.

Friendship Circle also provides support to individuals and families struggling with isolation, addiction and other family-related crises.

Our Mission

Friendship Circle creates friendship in the lives of individuals with special needs and those facing isolation while providing an opportunity to become a contributing member of the community. Through our programming, Friendship Circle aims to promote an inclusive community that values all individuals regardless of the challenges they face.

Our Values

Friendship Circle is founded upon the idea that within each person is a soul; and that soul is equal and worthy of boundless love. With this inspiration, the lives of the families we serve are enhanced while the volunteers reap the rewards of selfless giving.

Our Staff

Our staff is devoted to Friendship Circle's mission of love, friendship and inclusion. With over 30 dedicated staff members, Friendship Circle has been able to grow and thrive.
View Friendship Circle Staff

Our Board

Friendship Circle's board is a highly dedicated team of professionals with varying backgrounds and experience. Consisting of 24 diligant members, the board strives to uphold our values and our mission to forge strong bonds of friendship and further grow our community.
View Friendship Circle Board

Our Annual Report

Please view Friendship Circle's 2017 Annual Report.

Friendship Circle Facilities

Tour the Facility

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Friendship Circle of Michigan is a non-profit organization affiliated with Lubavitch of Michigan. Our goal is to provide every individual with special needs the support friendship and inclusion that they deserve. Friendship Circle provides assistance and support to 3,000 individuals with special needs and their families by providing recreational, social, educational and vocational programming.

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Different Dream offers resources to help parents or care givers be a confident advocate and provides encouragement when they need a boost.  It is a gathering place for parents to share their thoughts and connect with others.

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Parent to Parent is a support group that finds fellow parents with similar situations.  This support helps families feel hopeful and connect with other families for emotional support. It is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to supporting families of children with special health care needs.

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Support for Parents of Children with Disabilities

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At Parent to Parent USA, when someone asks what we do, we say we empower and support parents, nationwide.

Why? Because we understand being a parent of a child with special needs can be a challenge - we've been there!

The journey is filled with hills and valleys and sometimes feels a little overwhelming. So, we're driven to ensure no parent feels alone. Ever.

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Home - Support for Parents of Children with Disabilities

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Parent to Parent USA provides emotional & informational support for families of children who have special needs.

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Move United Sports allows for children and adults with disabilities to gain confidence in playing sports.  They were founded in 1956 and provide national leadership and opportunities for individuals with disabilities to develop independence, confidence, and fitness through participation in community sports, competition, recreation, high performance sport and educational programs.

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Established in 1956, Move United uses the power of sports to push what's possible so everyone, regardless of ability, has equal access to sports and recreation in their community.

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Best Buddies helps children with disabilities create meaningful and lasting friendships.  They are dedicated to create opportunities of integrated employment, leadership development, and inclusive living for individuals with disabilities.

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A nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, leadership development, and inclusive living for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

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Bloom’s Blog delivers personalized, inter-professional care, and drives social justice for children and youth with disabilities, amongst much more.  Their goal is to provide a world of possibilities and opportunities to help support children and youth with disabilities.

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BLOOM combines real family stories with the best expert advice, plus the latest news and opinion on disability.

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The Special Needs Survival Podcast is dedicated to giving compassionate advice for all stages of life.  It is a podcast that revolves around the entire special needs community including those with autism, intellectual disabilities, physical disabilities, mental health issues and more.

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Siblings' experiences in the special needs community are often not addressed, especially in the professional realm. Parenting Impossible guest, Jessica Leving Siegel, shares her story of growing up with a brother with autism to shed light on the challenges that she faced and that many special needs siblings face every day.

For Jessica, the biggest issue was her hesitancy to express her emotions about her brother to her parents out of fear that she would add to their stress. In her mind, she was not allowed to feel frustrated or upset. She remembers thinking, "That's not an emotion I can have."

Beyond restraining and denying her own emotions, she also felt left out. Her parents focused so much of their time on her brother that they always assumed she was doing fine. Having lived this firsthand, one of her biggest pieces of advice for parents is to check in on ALL of your kids to see how they are doing, even the ones who seem to have it together, and give them the space to express their feelings beyond their immediate responses.

Jessica's experiences have led her to write two books, "Billy's Sister: Life when your sibling has a disability," and "Special Siblings: Growing up with a sibling who has special needs" . She wrote the first book in high school at the request of therapists who worked with her brother, and she published the second years later after seeing a lack of representation for special needs siblings. The positive feedback that she received for these works encouraged her to start her podcast, "The Special Siblings Podcast" and create a nonprofit organization, The Center for Siblings of People with Disabilities , to support and empower other siblings like her.

These experiences taught Jessica the power of the phrase, "You can't take care of others if you don't take care of yourself."

You can find more of her resources for special needs siblings to help as you care for yourself and your loved one, and as you plan for the future.

Annette Hines has been practicing in the areas of Special Needs, Elder Law, and Estate Planning for more than 20 years. Ms. Hines brings personal experience with special needs to her practice and podcasts as the mother of two daughters, one of whom passed away from Mitochondrial disease in November 2013. This deep, personal understanding of special needs fuels her passion for quality special needs planning and drives her dedication to help others within the special needs community.

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Parenting Impossible – The Special Needs Survival Podcast

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Episode 85: "Check-In On the Special Needs Sibling" with Jessica Leving Siegel

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Siblings' experiences in the special needs community are often not addressed, especially in the professional realm. Parenting Impossible guest, Jessica Leving Siegel, shares her story of growing up with a brother with autism to shed light on the challenges that she faced and that many special needs siblings face every day.

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This is a blog about exactly what to do when you find out about your child's diagnosis.

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A blog discussing a families life and living with their son who has autism.

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A few weeks ago, I posted a blog about exactly what to do after you have learned of your child's diagnosis, you can find that post here.

It's a bit overwhelming and once you pull yourself out from behind the curtain of sleep deprivation and emotional exhaustion, you need to do something very important.

Find Your Tribe.

At first, your friends and family will be there.

Emphatically.

Supporting you.

Hanging on your every word and asking how they can be there for you.

You may have friends that will want to help, give you a bit of respite.

But in time, autism will be a big part of your life. It will envelope who you were.

It will change you in ways you never expected and while those friends and family members will stand by, unless they too are living it, they won't completely understand.

Ever.

You have entered a secret world where you and your family will experience things you only read about.

You may be in shock you are living this life and putting your feelings into words may be overwhelming.

In fact, parts of this secret world, you may be embarrassed to share.

This is your new normal.

Your once busy, bustling family will still be just as busy but in between your typical children's sports and lessons you will be headed to occupational therapy, speech and even physical therapy.

The home that kids once ran through all summer long, where children rushed in for lemonade and cookies will now be different. Children may not show up as often and perhaps you will fear inviting them over.

Reality is, those first friends you had, before the diagnosis will be there.

They will listen, some will even try their best to learn pouring over books, texting and reminding you you are not alone but be careful because they may tire over the number of conversations about therapy or school or your expectations not being met.

They may not understand the moment of celebration that your child is finally sleeping through the night, at seven, that your child had a reciprocal conversation at nine or perhaps your child stopped being so aggressive and began using their words.

It's not that they don't care or want to care, they aren't card carrying members of Mothers like us.

Sometimes, they feel guilty.

Most know their lives are different.

Some may even feel badly for you and not know what to say.

They are still your friends, but once your eyes are dry from crying, you have found your voice to advocate and you are no longer standing on shaky ground..
Find your tribe.
For me, it's happened.

I found a group of moms living life with autism.

We have one single thing that bonds us and the conversation about elopement receives nods of understanding, the tears of aggression receive words of comfort and the celebration of an experience in a typical situation is met with a joy only a mother who has spent countless hours sitting through therapies, doctors visits, titration of medication would understand.

Not only does it feel good, it will help me not to burden my friends and family walking a more traditional journey to hit the F-U button when I call for fear of my lamenting the struggles of the day.

Last night on a whim, I decided it was time to speak, so as I jumped on a call with a group of women, I spoke candidly about our journey.

As the comments popped up in the chat box, others understood.

They too lived this life. One even said I was speaking her language.

I think its the "exhausted, overwhelmed, autism mom speak that I spewed a mile a minute in case my daughter woke up" language that is just now being put into Miriam Webster Dictionary.

This world we live in sprinkled with autism isn't bad but it's one that can be heavy.

Each of us is learning constantly, and without a tribe, it's an incredibly lonely place.

While I talked long after my bedtime I felt at peace. Today, when I woke up, I was rejuvenated. I felt more alive than I have felt in months and it felt good.

If you have yet to find your tribe, let me know, I'll direct you and you can join me there and feel whole again.

Written by, Elizabeth North
Elizabeth (Ellie) is a mom of 5, who loves the opportunity to learn through living. With a number of challenges in her life, she has found that autism has taught her the most and continues to teach her to grow. She works as consultant on Social Media and Customer Service. She enjoys hiking, writing and wants to be a runner but its just never seemed to work out...WAH WAH! Elizabeth recently completed Partners in Policymaking in NJ. In her spare time she loves supporting new families on their autism journey and helping them through their first IEP. You can check out her blog at www.messyblessymomma.com or find her on Facebook at MessyBlessyMomma.

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Finding Cooper's Voice is a safe, humorous, caring and honest place where you can celebrate the unique challenges of parenting a special needs child. Because you're never alone in the struggles you face. And once you find your people, your allies, your village....all the challenges and struggles will seem just a little bit easier. Welcome to our journey. You can also follow us on Facebook, subscribe for exclusive videos, and subscribe to our newsletter.

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Find Your Tribe - Finding Cooper's Voice

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A few weeks ago, I posted a blog about exactly what to do after you have learned of your child's diagnosis, you can find that post here. It's a bit overwhelming and once you pull yourself out from behind the curtain of sleep deprivation and emotional exhaustion, you need to do something very important.

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A video discussing how life is being a parent of a child with special needs.

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Kristi Rieger Campbell reading "What It Means To Be A Special Needs Mom"

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A video sharing different parent's stories on learning about their child's diagnosis and how life has been.

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Parenting a Child With Special Needs | Babble Stories by Babble

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Overcoming Burnout Felt By Special Needs Parents

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Overcoming Burnout Felt By Special Needs Parents

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This video discusses different strategies that a parent of a child with special needs, can use to avoid burnout.

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Overcoming Burnout Felt By Special Needs Parents | Special Education Decoded