Throughout my life I have had the opportunity to volunteer with countless numbers of special needs children and adults. As a sibling to a child with autism I’ve found that helping children with special needs is my passion. I’ve been fortunate to have the ability to meet hundreds of people who share a similar goal as me and learn from them as well as share my own experiences. The community of dedicated people willing to volunteer their time with someone who might otherwise remain in their own world continues to surprise me everyday, and I am proud to say that I am one of them.

An organization through which I commit my time the most is Friendship Circle of Cleveland. Through countless programs and events, Friendship Circle aims to give every child with special needs, no matter the type or age, a friend.  One of their most infamous programs is Friends at Home. Once a week a pair of assigned teens travel to a child's home to simply play and have fun, while simultaneously giving the parents a break from the stressful life of catering to a child with special needs every command. My sister was an active recipient of these friends as a child and as a child myself, I was able to collect some of the leftover love that they shared with her. While growing up I always dreamed of being able to share joy with others the same way they did with us.

As a child it was hard to find someone to let me help with more than simple tasks like hold this, or go play a game with her while “volunteering” with special needs kids. I wanted to plan activities, make recipes, and form connection with the kids the same way my two heros did when they came to my house every Wednesday. I often asked my parents why no one would trust me or why I wasn’t allowed to do anything by myself. But the hidden truth was that special needs children can be difficult to handle and I was just “too young” to understand. But my passion didn't burn out then. It only grew until the day finally came when Rabbi Yossi, the head director of Friendship Circle, told me my day had come.

I was eleven years old when I was officially allowed to begin my lifelong journey as an official Friendship Circle volunteer. Most kids aren’t allowed to start until they are thirteen but my persistence and dedication matured my real age. They first had me start as a Sunday Circle volunteer. Twice a month children come to the Friendship Circle building for two hours to play and have fun with two to three assigned teen friends. I was inexperienced with anyone besides my sister and a few of her friends and worst of all, scared.

Although I had the opportunity to meet and make friends with hundreds of different kids with varying differences, I still wasn’t satisfied. By then I had proven that the decision to  let a child under the required age become a volunteer was a smart choice, and they gave me the chance to try some other, more involved programs. My first advanced program was Sibs shop, a program for girls who have siblings with special needs. Typically, siblings of special needs children tend to feel left out by their families because their sibling requires an excessive amount of attention. Sibs shop allowed these girls to go and relax and talk about their feelings and I had the privilege of being somewhat of a mentor for them, being the oldest of the group. As much as I loved this program I still wasn't feeling the sense of responsibility that I desired.

My next upgrade was to a program called Friends at home that I briefly mentioned earlier. Ironically my partner that I was assigned happened to be the younger sister of my sisters friends at home buddy years before. We immediately clicked and we're excited to meet our new buddy. His name was Jacob, name changed for privacy purposes, and he was six years old at the time. He also had a younger sister named Liza, name also changed, and she was three. Ironically again, this was the same age my sister and I were when we began the program.  It was a cool autumn Wednesday when we met. Our advisor came with us as we anxiously knocked on the door,  we had no idea what to expect. Jacobs mom answered the door with little Liza hiding behind her legs. Jacob was nowhere to be found as she led us to the kitchen to introduce ourselves. As we chatted about Jacob and what his mom wanted to achieve through the program, he curiously made his way into the kitchen. As inexperienced and anxious teenagers, we yelled “hi!” and he quickly baked away, clearly overwhelmed by our excitement. We had a lot to learn.

After our initial, anxiety filled couple visits, we all became more comfortable with each other. We played board games, went outside, and read books together, with Liza always near by. We were quickly building a connection with these amazing kids and I could only dream of what the future would hold.

Now, three years later, our bond is closer than ever. Now that Jacob is almost nine and Liza is six, we are truly able to see their unique personalities and the amazing young adults that they have become. We've held birthday parties, baked cookies, and played outside no matter the weather. We've formed an inseparable connection with our little friends that hopefully will never fade. I've watched them grow and mature into amazing tiny people that never fail to amaze me with the amount of knowledge they contain. They have changed my life for the better and hopefully we changed theirs as well.