Linking Hearts – Opportunities

Our goal is to:

Enrich, inspire and motivate college students through sharing of themselves with others.
Create a sense of responsibility and connection to the community for college students through educational and social opportunities.
Engage people with special needs through a full range of experiences and friendship building opportunities.
Provide parents and families of people with special needs with much needed respite and support.
As an affiliate agency to Chabad, guided by Jewish values, we have a commitment to serve all members of the community.

Volunteer Program
The true beauty of the Linking Hearts is the interaction between the college student volunteers and the person/child with special needs. The love that these college students feel for their special friends is boundless and the impact that they have on these children is endless. Volunteering at Linking Hearts is a significant form of community service, and the students will take pride in being part of this seamless circle of Friendship.

At the heart of all of the Linking Hearts programming is the belief that each and every individual can be a productive member of the community and benefit from the social support offered by one’s peers. Friendship, acceptance and a chance to participate in socially accepted bonding opportunities are critical to achieving this type of inclusive society.

Linking Hearts aims to provide people/children with special needs and their families with many of the social and recreational opportunities that are currently available to the general community. These experiences are essential building blocks for an individual to acquire confidence and self esteem and to ultimately lead a productive, normative adult lifestyle. The college student volunteer learns for himself, to treat the special needs population as one of their own.

We envision a world in which people with special needs and their families experience acceptance, inclusion and friendship as contributing members of society. We foresee a future where they never again have to suffer the social isolation that has often been so prevalent in society.

Linking Hearts aims to create an environment for college students and special needs person that will nurture and inspire them with meaning, purpose, and self-value; a sense of connection to and responsibility for the greater community through innovative and stimulating programs. We see this as essential to developing and producing the members and leaders of tomorrow.

For inquiries please contact Janice Brahms-Butler, linkinghearts@hotmail.com