Friends Life Community provides personal enrichment and continuing education for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities that results in greater confidence, improved self-advocacy, and active participation in the local community, according to their website. The organization has two social enterprise programs that allow its members to express their creativity and learn work skills.
Friendmade Goods is one of their programs. It offers members of the Friends Life Community the chance to express themselves creatively and be financially validated as artists. The website sells original art, home goods, apparel and other items created by individuals who participate in the organization’s immersive Weekday Program.
The Weekday Program provides participants with group learning and community-based classes which teach life skills, service learning, employment, and visual and performing arts. The life skills program covers topics like responsibility, cooking, health and wellness, hygiene, and functional literacy to allow participants the opportunity to have some autonomy in their lives and decrease their dependency on caregivers. Through the service learning program and employment program, participants volunteer at various partner organizations – like Fifty Forward/Meals on Wheels and Edley’s Bar-B-Que — to help them with their daily operations while learning employment skills. It is through the arts program that items are produced that are offered on sale through Friendmade Goods.
Items sold on the Friendmade Goods website, and at local craft markets, have been licensed for their creator and makers are paid for their artwork. These designs are turned into prints and silk screens used to make items like flour sack towels, tee shirts, and cards. Any merchandise sold on the website is then packed and shipped by participants, teaching them business and entrepreneurial skills.
Artwork by some of the members of the Friends Life Community is part of an exhibition at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts called “The Power of Resilience.” The exhibition offers works from more than 80 adult artists with disabilities. Other participating agencies include AbleVoices, Borderless Arts, Healing Arts Project, Inc. and Metro Parks disABILITIES.
The organization’s second social enterprise business is their Friends’ Treat Truck. It is a mobile ice cream truck that serves all kinds of frozen treats. The truck plus servers can be rented for corporate events and private parties. They also pop up at markets around the area. The treat truck can be booked here.
The treat truck is run on a business model designed to break down barriers for people with disabilities while promoting awareness and inclusivity. It shows the community that people with disabilities can gain skills and provides adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities dignified employment.
