Inside a commercial kitchen in Kendall, adults with autism, Down syndrome and other disabilities are rolling dough into round loaves of challah, the traditional bread of Rosh Hashanah, before the holiday begins at sundown Friday. The bakers work for Friendship Bakery, a life-skills program that opened inside the new Friendship Circle campus at 8700 SW 112th Street, and this year marks the first time the operation is selling its kosher goods to the wider community.
The bakery is one piece of a much larger 20,000-square-foot facility that broke ground in December 2021 and celebrated its grand opening in December 2024, according to the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. As reported by the Miami Herald, the campus includes sensory games, music and arts rooms, life-skills spaces, a rock wall, trampoline, foam pit and a calm room, alongside the commercial kitchen where the bakery operates. The Herald reports the round loaves are priced at $11 each or two for $20, with the bakery filling family orders for bread and pastries ahead of the holiday.
Ana Lisa Rasmussen demonstrated for participants how to roll dough before braiding challah, per the Herald's report. A kosher supervisor ensures the kitchen follows Jewish dietary rules throughout the process, the paper notes, and the round shape itself carries meaning beyond the kitchen.
Why the Loaves Are Round
Round challah loaves are traditionally baked and eaten during Rosh Hashanah instead of the usual braided shape, symbolizing the cycle of the new year, a royal crown reflecting divine sovereignty, and hopes for an uninterrupted year of sweetness, according to Chabad.org. Rosh Hashanah, which marks the new year on the Hebrew calendar, begins at sundown Friday, per the Herald.
For the bakers themselves, the program is about more than bread. Robert Hampton, 35, also takes part in the Friendship Circle's dance program and ukulele lessons, the Herald reports, and his mother Michele Hampton said Friendship Circle welcomed her son. Amanda Lopez, 24, participates in the culinary class and karate, and her mother Sonia Lopez told the paper her daughter has become more independent through the culinary program. Sonia Lopez also said Friendship Circle is a safe and accepting place, the Herald reports.
A Program Built On Personal Stakes
Lisa Courtright, 28, has grown socially through Friendship Circle's programs, according to her mother, Maria Courtright, per the Herald's account. Sebastian Alvarez, 21, uses noise-cancelling headphones to prevent overstimulation while at the campus, the paper notes. Friendship Circle serves participants with Fragile X syndrome, Down syndrome, autism, intellectual disabilities and other genetic syndromes, and it welcomes individuals regardless of faith, according to the same report.
The organization was co-founded in 2004 by Rabbi Yossi Harlig and Nechama Harlig, whose own family includes a child with autism, the Herald reports. Rabbi Yossi Harlig moved to Kendall in 1995 to establish Chabad of Kendall/Pinecrest; eight years later, he and Nechama Harlig launched Friendship Circle, according to Chabad of Kendall and Pinecrest. Nechama Harlig told the Herald that friendship cannot be bought, and said the bakery gives participants meaning and purpose.
From a 3,000-Square-Foot House To a Full Campus
Friendship Circle Miami originally operated out of a 3,000-square-foot house starting in 2004 before building its current 20,000-square-foot campus, which expanded the organization's facilities and services, according to SocialMiami. The Kendall effort is part of a national network founded in 1994 in West Bloomfield, Michigan, by Rabbi Levi Shemtov and Bassie Shemtov under the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, which has since grown to more than 80 chapters worldwide, per the Friendship Circle of Michigan.
The commercial kitchen that houses Friendship Bakery also serves as a cooking space for Mitzvah Kitchen, a community outreach program co-directed by Nechama Harlig that prepares kosher meals for food-insecure residents, according to Chabad of Kendall and Pinecrest. Mitzvah Kitchen aims to combat food insecurity by providing those meals to people in need, the Herald reports, meaning the same countertops used to roll holiday challah also help feed hungry neighbors throughout the year.
A Wider Employment Gap
The vocational mission behind Friendship Bakery reflects a persistent national problem. Only 22.8% of Americans with a disability were employed in 2025, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released in March 2026. A 2023-24 survey by National Core Indicators found that just 17% of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities receiving state-funded services had paid community jobs, even though 42% of those not working said they wanted paid employment, according to the Institute on Human Development and Disability. According to Miami-Dade County’s 2023 Status of Women Report, the county’s total population with a disability was 284,792 in 2022. According to U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, Miami-Dade County's median household income was $71,753 in 2024 dollars for 2020-2024, while its per capita income was $39,469.
That gap helps explain why Friendship Circle has leaned so heavily on volunteers and community support to sustain its programming. The organization has drawn on more than 1,400 volunteers over the years, the Herald reports, and it offers activities including music therapy, karate, dance, arts and crafts and horseback riding to serve hundreds of individuals with special needs each year. The organization also holds the Walking 4 Friendship walkathon, according to Value Store It.
At the Kendall kitchen this week, Rasmussen led a dough-rolling lesson, and Nechama Harlig spoke about purpose.
