Home with FriendsEach week volunteer teens come to your home to spend one hour with your child. The volunteers are screened and receive orientation from professionals in the field of special education prior to their home visits.
A schedule is set up by our family coordinator to accommodate each child. |
Sunday Circle/Teen SceneOnce a month on Sundays 2:00 – 4:00 PM, throughout the year, our teenage volunteers and your child spend two wonderful hours together. In a fun filled atmosphere, highlighting a seasonal holiday or theme, participants enjoy a wide variety of activities such as music, dance, art, sports, snack, baking, cooking, yoga, story time, games and special activities. Professionals in the field of special education and therapists lead the activities. Parents receive a respite as their children engage in an afternoon of quality social and educational activities.
Sunday Circle & Teen Scene run consecutively. |
Young Adult/Adult CircleCircle of Friends hosts a monthly program on Tuesday evenings, 6:00-7:30PM for young adults & adults with disabilities. Participants are transported to and from their group residences and homes and then join together with volunteers to socialize, enjoy music, dance, art, snack, games, cooking, baking and trips. Young adults participate in Community Service projects & outings. to theater, sports events, hikes, apple picking and other exciting places.
|
Additional Programs
|
Community Awareness
Circle of Friends hosts community awareness events and provides lecturers to educate the community on individuals with disabilities and respect of differences. Bar/Bat Mitzvah Every child deserves a Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration. Circle of Friends will custom tailor a service and celebration for that Special Day. Hebrew School Jewish Enrichment Program Sundays 10:30 – 11:30am. Using the most progressive teaching methods, each student receives an individualized approach to maximize their capabilities and build their self esteem. |
Swimming
In partnership with the Westport Y & Special Olympics. Ages 8-18 - Monthly, Sundays 3:30-4:30pm @ the YMCA 14 Allen Raymond Lane Westport, CT 06880. Forms must be emailed or mailed to the YMCA ATT: Jay Jaronka before participating. Participation in Special Olympics is not required. Download the registration forms here Life Skills For a child with special needs, the “outside world” can seem overwhelmingly strange. Under the Life Skills program, teen volunteers and professionals help them become comfortable in public places so they can gain confidence and become as self-sufficient as possible. |
Camp
Winter/Summer Camp. Visit our Camp page for more information. Sib Shop - Sibling Support Group Circle of Friends offers sibling support groups. The group is lead by a family therapist and includes games, art, snack and discussion. Hospital Visits & Counseling In a time of crisis or need Circle of Friends is here for you with care packages and visits. |
PRIVACY POLICY
Last updated: January, 2020
Data Protection and Privacy Statement
Circle of Friends of Connecticut, Inc. (“Circle of Friends” or “We”) is committed to protecting any personal information that you may provide to us. In particular, we believe it is important for you to know how we treat information about you that we may receive from Circle of Friend’s website (circleoffriendsct.org, the “Website”) or when you contact us directly.
Collection and Use of Personal and Non-Personal Information
We limit the personal and non-personal information recognized or accepted on the Website. If you volunteer or register as a participant, offline or online for a Circle of Friends program or events certain information and data is stored which includes personal information you may provide. Your personal information may include any of the following: first and last name, street, city and zip code, email address, date of birth, phone numbers, medical or health information, school information and any other information you may provide in a volunteer or participant registration form or if you email or text Circle of Friends or any of its agents. If you make an online payment or donation, your personal information may include a credit card number, expiration date, billing address, payment or donation amount Some data may be collected automatically when you visit our Website. Certain information and data is stored when you voluntarily make a payment or donation to Circle of Friends, or if you donate offline. The data collected automatically may be stored and analyzed to measure use of the Website, evaluate trends, improve your browsing experience and improve our provision of services. For visits to our online site, we collect: your IP address, operating system, and/or browser you use to access the Website; your browsing history including trends and behaviors indicating age and gender; your location information, referring domain name; the date, time and duration of your visit, the pages you visit, and your specific categories of interest.
We may require visitors to register in order to obtain a user ID and password for authentication and secure access to a transaction or certain business confidential or proprietary information services.
Providing us with personal information is entirely optional and voluntary; however, if you do not provide the personal information requested, the related service may not be available to you.
We do not merge personal identifiable information with non-personal identifiable information and never identify you individually unless you have voluntarily provided us with that information thereby consenting to our limited use of your information. Any personal information provided to us is specifically used for your relationship with Circle of Friends. Circle of Friends staff and volunteers may have access to your personal information. Circle of Friends will use reasonable means to maintain the confidentiality of such information. At no time is any information sold to any third party for any commercial purpose.
Processing Personal Information
We process personal information only for permitted purposes and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
Use of Personal Information
We use your personal information to safeguard the legitimate interests of Circle of Friends and its volunteers and supporters, which includes:
We do not sell or rent your personal information to third-parties for marketing purposes unless you have granted us permission to do so.
We may share your personal information with authorized third-party agents or contractors in order to perform research, or provide a requested service or transaction.
We may disclose personal information in connection with security related or law enforcement investigations or in the course of cooperating with authorities, protecting and defending our rights or property or complying with legal requirements.
Sharing of Non-Personal Information
We may share your non-personal information with third parties to help us enhance your experience on the Website, improve our services and programs and provide you with more relevant Website content, analyze Website usage, improve our services, or for similar purposes.
How long personal information is stored
Circle of Friends shall store personal information in a secure and protected environment for as long as we believe it will better help Circle of Friends understand how we can serve participants. However, this will be for a reasonable period and only for as long as is necessary. In addition, certain laws might oblige us to store the information for a certain period of time.
Use of Cookies and Other Web Technologies
The Website may use cookies and/or other web technologies. When you visit the Website, we may, or we may authorize a trusted third-party service provider to, send one or more “cookies” – a small text or series of alphanumeric characters – to your computer. These small files are stored on your computer and identify your browser to us. We use a combination of session and persistent cookies to enable you to log in faster to the Website and enhance your navigation and use of the Website. A persistent cookie remains on your hard drive after you close out of the session on the Website. They may be used again when you next visit the Website. A session cookie does not remain on your hard drive and is temporarily active while you are on the Website disappearing when you close out of the session on the Website. We also use cookies to track how you use and experience the Website, and to allow us to monitor and improve the performance of the Website. We may use cookies to tell us, for example, whether you have visited the site before, if you are a new visitor, and to identify features or information in which you have interest. You can disable cookies on your browser, however some of the features on the Website may not function properly if the ability to accept cookies is disabled.
Log File Information: Log file information is automatically reported by your browser each time you access a web page. When you use our Website, our servers automatically record certain log file information. These server logs may include anonymous information such as your web request, Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, browser type, referring / exit pages and URLs, number of clicks and how you interact with links on the Website, domain names, landing pages, pages viewed, and other such information.
Information Security
Circle of Friends uses commercially reasonable methods consistent with non- profit organizations’ practice to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure, to maintain data accuracy, and to ensure appropriate use of your personal information.
If we transfer sensitive personal data (for example, credit card information) over the internet, we protect it using TLS technology.
While we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot ensure the security of the information you provide to us in any form or transmit via the web or the website.
We recommend you take every precaution in protecting your personal information when you are on the Internet. For example, change your passwords often, use a combination of letters and numbers when creating passwords, and do not reveal your password to anyone.
Children
In accordance with federal law and the guidelines set up by the Federal Trade Commission regarding youth privacy, Circle of Friends will not knowingly collect any personal information from users under the age of 13 and will require the parental or guardian express consent prior to collecting any personal information from any user younger than 16, but older than 13 years.
Email
If you have provided us with your email address to ask for information, participate in a program, make a donation, or to receive notifications or updates about one of the programs or events and you wish to change our address or no longer wish to receive these communications, please follow the unsubscribe instructions that appear in these email communications.
Questions or Comments
If you have questions or comments regarding this privacy statement, please contact us at cof@circleoffriendsct.org.
Updates
We may update this Privacy Statement at any time by posting updated text on our sites. We display a last updated date at the top of this statement so that you will know when there has been a change. Accordingly, you should check this statement on a regular basis for our most current data protection and privacy practices. Each time you access, use, or browse our Website, you signify your acceptance of the then-current version of the privacy statement. Any changes will take effect upon posting and apply only to information collected from you on and after the last updated date, unless specified otherwise.
Last updated: January, 2020
Data Protection and Privacy Statement
Circle of Friends of Connecticut, Inc. (“Circle of Friends” or “We”) is committed to protecting any personal information that you may provide to us. In particular, we believe it is important for you to know how we treat information about you that we may receive from Circle of Friend’s website (circleoffriendsct.org, the “Website”) or when you contact us directly.
Collection and Use of Personal and Non-Personal Information
We limit the personal and non-personal information recognized or accepted on the Website. If you volunteer or register as a participant, offline or online for a Circle of Friends program or events certain information and data is stored which includes personal information you may provide. Your personal information may include any of the following: first and last name, street, city and zip code, email address, date of birth, phone numbers, medical or health information, school information and any other information you may provide in a volunteer or participant registration form or if you email or text Circle of Friends or any of its agents. If you make an online payment or donation, your personal information may include a credit card number, expiration date, billing address, payment or donation amount Some data may be collected automatically when you visit our Website. Certain information and data is stored when you voluntarily make a payment or donation to Circle of Friends, or if you donate offline. The data collected automatically may be stored and analyzed to measure use of the Website, evaluate trends, improve your browsing experience and improve our provision of services. For visits to our online site, we collect: your IP address, operating system, and/or browser you use to access the Website; your browsing history including trends and behaviors indicating age and gender; your location information, referring domain name; the date, time and duration of your visit, the pages you visit, and your specific categories of interest.
We may require visitors to register in order to obtain a user ID and password for authentication and secure access to a transaction or certain business confidential or proprietary information services.
Providing us with personal information is entirely optional and voluntary; however, if you do not provide the personal information requested, the related service may not be available to you.
We do not merge personal identifiable information with non-personal identifiable information and never identify you individually unless you have voluntarily provided us with that information thereby consenting to our limited use of your information. Any personal information provided to us is specifically used for your relationship with Circle of Friends. Circle of Friends staff and volunteers may have access to your personal information. Circle of Friends will use reasonable means to maintain the confidentiality of such information. At no time is any information sold to any third party for any commercial purpose.
Processing Personal Information
We process personal information only for permitted purposes and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
Use of Personal Information
We use your personal information to safeguard the legitimate interests of Circle of Friends and its volunteers and supporters, which includes:
- To ensure that the website’s content is presented as effectively as possible
- To provide the Circle of Friend’s fund raising, programs, events, services and to provide related information by email or any other means to volunteers and participants and their families
- For Circle of Friend’s own internal record keeping
- To prepare documentation in order to complete transactions for Circle of Friends donations or events, which may require sharing personal information with third parties
- For direct mail, provided you have not objected to the processing of your personal information for these purposes
- To transfer personal information within Circle of Friends and with third parties for internal administrative purposes
We do not sell or rent your personal information to third-parties for marketing purposes unless you have granted us permission to do so.
We may share your personal information with authorized third-party agents or contractors in order to perform research, or provide a requested service or transaction.
We may disclose personal information in connection with security related or law enforcement investigations or in the course of cooperating with authorities, protecting and defending our rights or property or complying with legal requirements.
Sharing of Non-Personal Information
We may share your non-personal information with third parties to help us enhance your experience on the Website, improve our services and programs and provide you with more relevant Website content, analyze Website usage, improve our services, or for similar purposes.
How long personal information is stored
Circle of Friends shall store personal information in a secure and protected environment for as long as we believe it will better help Circle of Friends understand how we can serve participants. However, this will be for a reasonable period and only for as long as is necessary. In addition, certain laws might oblige us to store the information for a certain period of time.
Use of Cookies and Other Web Technologies
The Website may use cookies and/or other web technologies. When you visit the Website, we may, or we may authorize a trusted third-party service provider to, send one or more “cookies” – a small text or series of alphanumeric characters – to your computer. These small files are stored on your computer and identify your browser to us. We use a combination of session and persistent cookies to enable you to log in faster to the Website and enhance your navigation and use of the Website. A persistent cookie remains on your hard drive after you close out of the session on the Website. They may be used again when you next visit the Website. A session cookie does not remain on your hard drive and is temporarily active while you are on the Website disappearing when you close out of the session on the Website. We also use cookies to track how you use and experience the Website, and to allow us to monitor and improve the performance of the Website. We may use cookies to tell us, for example, whether you have visited the site before, if you are a new visitor, and to identify features or information in which you have interest. You can disable cookies on your browser, however some of the features on the Website may not function properly if the ability to accept cookies is disabled.
Log File Information: Log file information is automatically reported by your browser each time you access a web page. When you use our Website, our servers automatically record certain log file information. These server logs may include anonymous information such as your web request, Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, browser type, referring / exit pages and URLs, number of clicks and how you interact with links on the Website, domain names, landing pages, pages viewed, and other such information.
Information Security
Circle of Friends uses commercially reasonable methods consistent with non- profit organizations’ practice to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure, to maintain data accuracy, and to ensure appropriate use of your personal information.
If we transfer sensitive personal data (for example, credit card information) over the internet, we protect it using TLS technology.
While we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot ensure the security of the information you provide to us in any form or transmit via the web or the website.
We recommend you take every precaution in protecting your personal information when you are on the Internet. For example, change your passwords often, use a combination of letters and numbers when creating passwords, and do not reveal your password to anyone.
Children
In accordance with federal law and the guidelines set up by the Federal Trade Commission regarding youth privacy, Circle of Friends will not knowingly collect any personal information from users under the age of 13 and will require the parental or guardian express consent prior to collecting any personal information from any user younger than 16, but older than 13 years.
If you have provided us with your email address to ask for information, participate in a program, make a donation, or to receive notifications or updates about one of the programs or events and you wish to change our address or no longer wish to receive these communications, please follow the unsubscribe instructions that appear in these email communications.
Questions or Comments
If you have questions or comments regarding this privacy statement, please contact us at cof@circleoffriendsct.org.
Updates
We may update this Privacy Statement at any time by posting updated text on our sites. We display a last updated date at the top of this statement so that you will know when there has been a change. Accordingly, you should check this statement on a regular basis for our most current data protection and privacy practices. Each time you access, use, or browse our Website, you signify your acceptance of the then-current version of the privacy statement. Any changes will take effect upon posting and apply only to information collected from you on and after the last updated date, unless specified otherwise.
