ECAC: Circle of Friends: What is a Circle of Friends?

ECAC | Circle of Friends

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Circle of Friends Index

What is a Circle of Friends,
A Circle of Support?
     A Circle of Friends or Support is a group of people who agree to meet on a regular basis to help a person with a disability accomplish certain personal visions or goals. The focus person is unable to reach these goals working alone. So, he or she asks a number of people to work with him/her to overcome obstacles and to open doors to new opportunities. The circle members provide support to the focus person and they take action on her/his behalf.

      The members of a circle of friends or support are usually friends, family members, co-workers, neighbors, church members and sometimes service providers or school staff members. The majority of people in a circle are not paid to be there. They are involved because they care about the focus person and they have made a commitment to work together on behalf of the person. Circles in no way exclude paid service providers. Paid providers can be an essential resource to a circle. However, the majority of circle members are non-paid, typical community members.

      When the majority of people in a circle are paid human service workers or school staff members, then we prefer to call this group a "person-centered team." We find that these teams often work for a positive future for the focus person as well, but the characteristics of a human service team are strikingly different from our experience with circles of support.

      When the majority of people in a circle are paid human service workers or school staff members, then we prefer to call this group a "person-centered team." We find that these teams often work for a positive future for the focus person as well, but the characteristics of a human service team are strikingly different from our experience with circles of support.

FOUR STEPS TO BUILDING A CIRCLE

1) FOCUS on an individual -- GENERATE a vision

A Vision of what the individual desires will help set guidelines and plan strategies. Do not take on too much. Starting small and insuring positive results will allow movement towards more difficult steps with confidence, especially if there seem to be more barriers to tackle. Knowing the vision will help everyone stay centered when barriers get in the way. Prepare a road map: "know where you are starting, where you are going, how you can get there, when and with whom."

Some hints for creating vision:

Instead of knowing ideas, listen to the desires and wants of the individual. Build on the things they say. Listen to their feelings. Feelings are neither right nor wrong. They just are.
Assist the individual to be "capacity seeking.
Look at the person's gifts and contributions to make the vision come alive for them.
How can the community become part of removing those barriers and making the vision real?
Don't expect things to happen overnight.
Let each person share/his/her gifts. Each person has his/her own unique contribution to make. The gifts are as various and as numerous as those who possess them.

2) EMPOWER the focus individual or family, concerning what they see as a vision and work with them to achieve it

Don't tell them what is right for their child or themselves.
Help them see THEIR CAPACITIES and work toward the goal with them.
Get them as close to the dream as possible.
SELF EMPOWERMENT STARTS FROM THE INSIDE OUT! It does not work from outside in. People short-circuit the process for others by trying to do the task of self -empowerment for them. We tend automatically to think of doing something for them. We do not reflect that they can do something with and for us.
Don't give the impression that professionals have all the answers.

3) WORK WITH interested friends, family and individuals who care

Have the focus person or focus family invite family members, friends and neighbors to become part of the circle.

Identify particular networks of people within your group.

Look for the "gifts" of the people within the circle.

View different ideas as ways to discover more and see new solutions to a problem.

Develop strategies to overcome the obstacles and BRING THE VISION TO LIFE for the individual.

Find ways that certain people in the circle can be a "bridge" for the person with a disability, into particular associations and activities in the community.

4) FIND CONNECTIONS within existing family, friend, neighbor and community resources for getting more involved in community

Where do relatives, friends work? What clubs do they belong to? What churches do they go to? How might they get you in the door to begin there?

Who are they? Who are their families? What are their particular needs and interests?

Look through local community newspapers and newsletters to find resources to meet the challenges of each person's vision.

Reprinted and adapted with permission from "One Candle Power: Building Bridges into Community Life for People with Disabilities", Pat Beeman, George Ducharme, and Beth Mount, 1989, p. 21 and 22, available from The Community Place by Mail, (860) 645-3177.

For more infomation, contact the Exceptional Children's Assistance Center.
P.O. Box 16
Davidson, North Carolina 28036-0016
(704) 892-1321 (Voice/TTD) • Fax: (704) 892-5028
Parent Information Line (NC parents only please): 1-800-962-6817
E-Mail: information@ecac-parentcenter.org