Friendship Circle of Cleveland to Open New Home

Friendship Circle of Cleveland executive director Rabbi Yossi Marozov sits at a table among the cluttered work-in-progress of what will become the teen volunteer organization’s youth lounge.

The room is not much to look at on this sunny summer afternoon in late August, but by Labor Day weekend, the lounge, along with the remainder of Friendship Circle’s new space at the former Congregation Bethaynu building, will be bustling with activity for what Marozov calls the organization’s “home opener” during its My Walk 4 Friends fundraiser Sun., Sept. 4.

“This is the culmination of a dream,” he said.

Friendship Circle, a nonprofit organization that supports special-needs children and matches them with teen volunteers from the Northeast Ohio area, still has work to do before the big day. Its new 12,000-sq.-ft. space on Gates Mills Blvd. in Pepper Pike will officially open on Tues., Sept. 6. It is more than twice as large as the nonprofit’s former home in South Euclid in the building that also housed tenant Workmen’s Circle. The group is in talks with a prospective buyer for its old building on Green Road.

Almost every room in the new facility is being retrofitted with metal grab bars and other equipment for the 150 special-needs children served by Friendship Circle annually. One room is set to have a pillow pit and mats for safe play. There’s also an art therapy room as well as a “quiet room” that will be outfitted with beanbag chairs to give kids a break between activities.
The planned teen lounge is one of the facility’s largest rooms and will serve as a “youth magnet” for volunteers, said Marozov, 36. The space will have computers with Internet access as well as game tables and refreshments.

“Volunteers should be able to come here and relax,” said the rabbi.

The new location will also have administrative offices, a luxury Friendship Circle did not enjoy at its prior location, which was so small that the organization needed an adjacent 60-ft. trailer to house its staff. The nonprofit is currently running down a list of infrastructure violations from Pepper Pike. Fire safety upgrades and electrical work will be up to code by Sept. 4, and Friendship Circle is working with the city on a schedule to update the remainder of the space, Marozov said.

Read the full story at the Cleavland Jewish News.