Circle of Friends is a non-profit organization formed in the summer of to address the growing needs of adults with disabilities in Cherokee County, GA. Our leadership team is comprised of people from different career paths, experiences, and walks of life. Our board includes parents of young adults with disabilities, community members, and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities IDD.
This will be accomplished through intergenerational endeavors that:. Create an organic social structure to provide opportunities to develop positive relationships. Foster appropriate and supportive employment opportunities for adults to gain valuable skills and earn a fair wage through mentoring relationships. Develop a model for an intergenerational, affordable, and supportive residential community development. Circle of Friends was born out of the idea that everyone has a place and that together we flourish.
Glenn and Diane Keen, founders of Circle of Friends, have been members of Hickory Flat United Methodist Church since , and along with their three children were heavily involved in the youth group. Youth group was a place where the Keen children, especially their son Haden, were able to experience being fully included in the life of the church.
Haden has faced challenges since his adoption in from Romania, where his seclusion in an orphanage resulted in developmental delays and social difficulties. This natural support in the life of the church is the foundation for the inclusion model Circle of Friends is working toward. As a community health nurse, Diane Keen, co-founder and board chairperson of Circle of Friends, recognized the benefits of the intergenerational relationships Haden experienced as a member of HFUMC.
As a doctoral student, Diane studied intergenerational relationships and enhancing the well-being of young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and older adults through interaction in a community garden.
