July 10, 2025 by Beth Porter
An Interview with Andrea Mansfield, President & Executive Director, and Heather Wahle, Director of Development
Mission Statement: Friendship Home’s mission is to enrich the lives of individuals with developmental disabilities and their families by providing quality respite care and support services in a safe and caring environment.
Beth: Give me a few words that encapsulate Friendship Home.
Andrea and Heather: Fun. Community. Trustworthy. Empowering.
Beth: What are you best known for?
Andrea: We are a boutique organization dedicated to understanding the families we serve and their unique challenges. We then tailor the programming for each individual we serve.
We are particularly known for our short-term Overnight Respite program. It is community-based and experiential, and the only one of its type on the South Shore. We customize the stays to accommodate our guests’ unique preferences. They are capable adults who know what they like. Whether getting a haircut as one of our guests enjoys, dining out, or going to a show, it involves some compromise as we have more interests than we can accommodate, but everyone has fun. Our guests and their families describe it as a God-send. Caretakers share their appreciation for the peace of mind they get from knowing their loved ones are in our trusted hands.
We also take great pride in our facility. It is meant to feel like our participants’ Home Away from Home, and it does. We are lucky to have the facility and community support that we do.
Beth: Why does the community care so much?
Andrea: People sense the passion we have for our mission. From our board to our staff, to our volunteers, and everyone in between, all of us are driven to make a difference in the lives of the people we serve.
Beth: Are there any programs you are particularly proud of?
Andrea: We are proud of all of our programs, but I’ll highlight our most recent addition—Leadership for All Abilities. Modeled on the leadership program of the South Shore Chamber of Commerce and South Shore Bank, we created an experiential learning program that teaches our participants to push their boundaries, work as a team, and gain self-confidence. We are now making an offshoot of the program focused on advocacy, empowering our participants to share what will impact their lives and advocate for their rights. They are becoming change agents.
Beth: If you got a shocking amount of money tomorrow, what would you do with it?
Andrea: It’s very important for Friendship Home to provide the highest level of care for our participants and families, and that is only possible through having a great team of staff. We take their support and training very seriously so that they know they are valued individually and collectively. They are fulfilling our mission and need the resources to do their jobs successfully. We are fortunate to have a very low attrition rate.
If it were an even more shocking amount of money, we would consider adding a second location, as our space is limited. We’ve already moved our administrative staff to offices nearby to free up additional space to allow for more participants in programming, and we continue to explore adding programs like Leadership for All Abilities that we can offer within our existing space confines. But there is a significant unmet need both locally and nationally, and we would love to be able to serve more participants and families.
Beth: How could someone get involved?
Andrea: We have lots of opportunities. Volunteers in the Social Recreation program really get to know our participants. Folks can attend our Café for lunch on Wednesdays with our participants who set it up, prepare the meal, and share some of their personal experiences at Friendship Home.
Our employment partners are also so important to us. We have more than 70 participants in our day program, and as many as 42 have jobs in the community. We work with our employment partners to design a job that helps the business and that will allow our participant to be successful. We provide a lot of support from job coaching to on-site visits, to ensure success.
Heather: Events also provide a great opportunity to get involved at Friendship Home. The River Rock Music Fest was started by a group of friends and musicians who volunteer at our Camp Friendship every summer. Over the past four years, River Rock has raised $170,000 for Friendship Home. This will be our 5th year, and it is shaping up to be our best yet! We always need volunteers to help at our events, and we also need people to attend them and show their support through purchasing tickets and sponsorships.
Andrea: Our founders’ premise was that they needed help. We recognize that no one can do it alone: it’s the foundation of our success. We truly appreciate what people have to offer at every level.
Beth: Tell me more about River Rock and any other upcoming events.
Heather: River Rock Music Fest will be on Saturday, September 6th, at Weir River Farm in Hingham and will feature seven amazing bands, along with food and beverage trucks, games, and more. It’s one of our most inclusive and family-friendly events. And in true Friendship Home style, it is so much fun. We are looking for a very special business to step up to be our Headline Sponsor at the $10,000 level. It would have a huge impact on the success of this event!
Our 26th Annual Golf Classic at Pinehills Golf Club in Plymouth will be September 10th. This is always a great day! Anyone interested in sponsoring River Rock or our Golf Classic, please contact Heather at hwahle@friendshiphome.net.
Thanks to one of our participants’ mothers, an avid pickleball player who volunteered to host a pickleball tournament for us, we are also looking forward to our 1st Annual Pickleball tournament at Hull Pickleball Courts on August 9th!
Beth: And now, my favorite question – if Friendship Home had a theme song, what would it be?
Andrea: I would love to ask our participants. (She did – and here are their responses!)
1. “You Got a Friend in Me,” by Randy Newman
2. “We’re All in This Together” from High School Musical
3. “Better Together,” by Luke Combs
To learn more about Friendship Home, make a donation, or register for an upcoming event, please visit www.friendshiphome.net.
Beth Porter is a local consultant with 35+ years of experience in nonprofit management. She partners with local nonprofit leaders on a variety of strategic projects, bringing a fresh perspective, calm energy, and lots of tools. Contact her at beth@bcpnonprofitconsulting.com to learn more.