WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — A remarkable facility in West Bloomfield Township is making learning life skills feel like an adventure for people with special needs.
Friendship Circle's Elkus Village looks like a small town, complete with a hospital, theater and bank, but it's actually a training ground designed to help individuals with special needs gain independence.
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With more than a dozen stores, the state-of-the-art city simulation serves as an activity center and social meeting place for individuals with special needs.
"If you come here on a school day, there would be volunteers that are manning these stores," said Levi Shemtov, who founded Friendship Circle 31 years ago in Michigan with his wife, Bassie. The village is one of the organization's newest additions.
"Every lesson gets them to have to do something different in the village, so it might be going to Save on Drugs and buying their mom a gift or a card and sending it in the mailbox," said Bassie Shemtov.
"It might be a secret friend day, and they've got to buy their friend a gift. It might be that they have to go to the Friendship Cafe and buy some food and have proper food etiquette, learn how to tip and might be going to the salon, getting their nails done, getting their hair done, so all of these elements gives our children and our teens and our young adults an opportunity to practice real life skills in a safe environment."
From kids to young adults, Elkus Village is designed to prepare individuals with special needs for the real world.
"I've never thought I would be able to do a lot of these things," said Alexa Morris, 29, who has been with Friendship Circle for two decades.
When asked what Friendship Circle means to her, Morris said it's "like a home and family, a really important place."
"Because even though I was born with multiple disabilities, including autism, it has helped me grow, make friends and just be part of a great community," Morris said.
Thanks to this place, Morris has become more independent by learning how to manage finances, deal with customers and go shopping.
"It made me feel really great to start learning life skills, but also being able to make friends, especially not being able to make a whole lot of friends growing up," Morris said.
When asked about challenges she faced, Morris explained that "because of me having autism and being much slower with doing things, they would, they thought they would want to go away."
"This is her home. And that's what we want this to be, so it's what could we do to empower a young adult or a young child to be able to be independent and to be able to make a difference in society, just like everybody else wants to do," Bassie Shemtov said.
Levi Shemtov explained how the facility removes stigma for people in similar situations.
"When we match a child with special needs and a team volunteer, that relationship and that bond is so strong that it lasts, it lasts, it has an impact on their life for a lifetime," he said.
Friendship Circle is open to anyone and everyone. The best part — no one is turned away, even for financial reasons.
Looking toward the future, the organization has expansion plans.
"We have a bakery that employs people with special needs. We have a big waiting list there. We would love to expand that bakery," Levi Shemtov said.
"We would like to start another. Our center fills up, our Rubin summer camp fills up within three hours of opening up."
When asked if funding is required for expansion, Bassie Shemtov confirmed, "absolutely."
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