Young Adults with Special Needs Learn to Become Entrepreneurial Bakers
When Friendship Circle of West Bloomfield, Michigan started offering programs for children who have special needs 19 years ago, Rabbi Levi and Bassie Shemtov’s mission was to assist and support families of children with special needs.
Those children have now grown into young adults and Friendship Circle is continuing to develop programs that meet these young adult’s needs.
The Friendship Bakery enrolls young adults, ages 18 years and older, and helps to develop their skills in the food industry. The program runs for nine weeks, meeting each Thursday for three hours to bake challahs, which is an egg based bread. These young adults learn many areas of the food industry including baking skills, life skills, social skills and business skills.
One of the young adults, Lauren Ettinger of West Bloomfield, said, “I like working with the dough, rolling it, pinching the ropes together, braiding it and putting it on the tray.”
Learning a vocation helps these young adults go out into the community and become an active, contributing member while at the same time building their self-esteem. Currently they bake eight dozen loaves and the next day, take the bread to two Hiller’s Markets in West Bloomfield and Commerce townships, set up a stand between 9 a.m. and noon, greet customers, offer samples and sell the bread.
Noah Sriro of West Bloomfield said, “I braid the challahs. I’ve learned to weigh the dough. I make sure that the weight is right for each piece. After that we put the dough in the rolling machine, then we braid it. I also like selling challahs so that I can earn money.”
Bassie Shemtov, director of Friendship Circle said, “It is incredible to watch our bakers hand-craft these loaves of challah. Their attention to detail and passion really shines. Not only are they learning skills for the future, they are creating something with the utmost pride. It’s really beautiful to see.”
The bakers create the bread on Thursdays at the Milk and Honey restaurant located in the Jewish Community Center, 6600 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield.
Friendship Circle has been providing assistance and support for more than 3,000 families of children with special needs since 1994. Most of the Friendship Circle’s work takes place at the Ferber Kaufman Life Town building, a 28,000 square foot state of the art facility in West Bloomfield that serves as a therapy/activity center and social meeting place for its network of more than 1,000 volunteers, professional staff and supporters.
