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Everyone could use a circle of friends like the ones that meet in the Chisago Lakes area once or twice a month.

The Circle of Friends is a group of volunteers who, through Family Pathways, meet regularly with special needs teens and spend time getting to know each other through fun activities and events.

The group is comprised of around 40 volunteers, usually high school-aged teens, who work with kids who have various special needs. Most of the group members join in high school, but some start coming in eighth grade.

Group organizer Bonita Carlson of Family Pathways said they try reach out to the special needs kids and their parents while still in middle school.

If they are able to share information about the group with kids in seventh and eighth grade, they can start coming to events and find out they’re not alone – and they have friends.

“Speaking as a mom of a special, middle school is hard anyway and if you don’t have those social skills, it’s even harder,” one mom said. “So coming to this group and then knowing they’ll have friends going into high school helps so much.”

Her daughter, Emily, appreciated being able to start Circle of Friends as an eighth grader. Now, she travels the high school hallways seeing several faces that she knows.

The three smaller groups of special needs kids and volunteers meet separately throughout the year, but also come together for larger group activities.

One of those is the annual prom for the group, held June 16 this year. The theme “Bella Note” (“beautiful night” in Italian) was evident in the Italian-themed meal of lasagna, bread and salad.

The event was held at the Pine City VFW, which donated space for the evening. The Pine City Prom Committee donated decorations, prom dresses were donated and services were also donated, including the photographer/videographer, hair stylists and deejay.

Nearly 90 kids participated and between volunteers, parents, siblings and friends, the grand march was packed with well-wishers.

Carlson said prom is just one way they help bring special needs kids and other teens together.

“It takes the mystery away,” Carlson said. “How do they know about kids with disabilities if they’re not around them?”

It’s a great way to show these kids that they aren’t very different from the special needs kids, she said.

Plus, the Circle of Friends is fun. Volunteers start coming to work with their special needs peers as high schoolers and many find that they don’t want to leave when they graduate from high school.

“How can you leave, knowing the impact you’ve made in their lives?” one girl said.

The special needs kids find it hard to leave, too. Although there is no formal cut-off age, most move on after high school to other things.

One group member was given permission to attend Circle of Friends until she is 25. The volunteers told her she should just come back after that as a volunteer. She seemed to like that idea.

From scavenger hunts in the rain to karaoke nights to outings at Twins games, the group always seems to have fun, Carlson said.

She is thankful that they have a good relationship with the two high schools Family Pathways works with – Chisago Lakes and North Branch. Because of data privacy, the only way to find special needs kids to join the group is word of mouth or letters sent home to parents, she said.

“The school does a great job helping to get the word out,” she added.

A group has recently started for Forest Lake students, but Carlson is always working to get the word out about the group and what it can do for friendships and self-esteem for Chisago Lakes area kids, too.

She will be setting up a booth at the National Nite Out festivities in Lindstrom Aug. 1 and is also organizing the 5K race during Ki Chi Saga Days Aug. 26. The event, called “The Extra Mile,” will serve as a fundraiser for Circle of Friends.

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