Bethaynu to be Friendship Circle’s new home

Friendship Circle of Cleveland has reached a deal with Congregation Bethaynu to purchase the Conservative congregation’s former facility on Gates Mills Blvd. in Pepper Pike.

“It’s a go,” Friendship Circle executive director Rabbi Yossi Marozov told a cheering audience during the organization’s teen volunteer award ceremony Sun., May 22, in the former Bethaynu sanctuary.

During the event, Marozov pointed to support from “good friends” who helped “pull this effort off the ground.” The rabbi also officially received a property deed transfer from Bethaynu vice president Connie Waxman.

“Take these walls and make them your home,” Waxman told the capacity crowd at the event. Most of her congregation’s 240 families have agreed to make the switch from the recently closed synagogue to B’nai Jeshurun Congregation. The move freed up the former Bethaynu facility for use by Friendship Circle, a nonprofit organization that supports special-needs children and matches them with teen volunteers from the Northeast Ohio area.

The organization, currently located at 1980 S. Green Road in South Euclid in a building that also houses Workmen’s Circle, raised $325,000 mostly through private donations to make Sunday’s announcement possible, said Marozov. Friendship Circle is trying to procure another $750,000 for programming and for infrastructure needs.

With more than double the space available at the Bethaynu facility compared with its South Euclid location, Friendship Circle is planning to refurbish the sanctuary into a “mini-village,” where special-needs kids will interactively learn social skills like using a library or making a transaction at a bank, Marozov said. Plumbing and other facility improvements are also required before Friendship Circle can settle into its new location.

Marozov hopes the nonprofit can move in by the time it holds its annual walkathon event in September. The current Green Road location is so small that the organization has to use an adjacent trailer to house its administrative staff, while the building itself is only used for programming, he said.

Friendship Circle is trying to sell the Green Road property. “We have a strongly interested party,” said Marozov, who declined to specify the prospective buyer.

Meanwhile, Workmen’s Circle is planning a summertime move to the Maylee Building, 2490 Lee Blvd. in Cleveland Heights, said finance director Neal Grossman. The Jewish cultural organization will operate from an 800-900-sq.-ft. office while using other spaces within the building for conferences and programming.

Marozov knows there is still much work to do and money to be raised before Friendship Circle can enjoy its new home. “We’re educating the public every day,” he said. “Friendship Circle is still a surprise to many people.”