Friendship Circle provides assistance and support to the families of children with special needs. The majority of the Friendship Circle's innovative work with children with special needs takes place at the Ferber Kaufman LifeTown building, a 23,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility, which serves as a therapy and activity center, social meeting place, and hub for our network of volunteers, professional staff, and supporters.

The most striking feature of LifeTown is the Weinberg Village, a unique, interactive world where children with special needs, our Special Friends, can have fun while they practice important life skills through role play. Weinberg Village,a realistic 5,000 square foot indoor town features its own movie theater, beauty salon, pet shop, library, drug store and bank. At LifeTown, children with special needs and their parents and siblings find aplace that has been specifically designed to meet their needs.

The Ferber Kaufman LifeTown gives individuals with special needs the chance to learn life skills in a realistic setting, thus improving their social, physical and cognitive skills. In addition to helping individuals with special needs and their families, Friendship Circle touches people struggling with addiction, isolation and related crises. At the Daniel B. Sobel Friendship House, participants receive guidance in the form of recovery programs, referrals and supporting networks.

Founded in 1994 with 8 Families and 16 volunteers Friendship Circle of Michigan has grown to include 250 families and over 800 volunteers. In addition, 2,500 students from schools around Metro Detroit visit Friendship Circle’s Weinberg Village yearly. Since 2001 Friendship Circles have been started in over 80 locations in 22 states and 7 Countries.
 

The Friendship Circle is affilited with the Lubavitch Foundation of Michigan