Our Nonprofit Partners

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Best Buddies in Michigan is a nonprofit organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, leadership development, inclusive living, and family support for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Best Buddies is the largest organization dedicated to ending the social, physical, and economic isolation of the 200 million people worldwide with IDD since 1989. The IDD community includes, but is not limited to, people with Down syndrome, autism, Fragile X, Williams syndrome, and other undiagnosed disabilities. Our programs empower people with IDD to form meaningful friendships with their peers, secure jobs, improve communication and advocacy skills, and live independently, while also offering support for their families.

Here in Michigan, Best Buddies offers one-to-one friendship, integrated employment, and leadership development programs. We currently have 13 friendship chapters in various high schools and colleges throughout the state, with about 1000 total participants, and are continuing to expand. The University of Michigan’s Best Buddies chapter is the largest in the state, with about 300 members, including both UM students and Washtenaw County community members with IDD. We currently have 18 participants in our jobs program (and counting), employed by a variety of local businesses in Oakland County. We also have a growing ambassadors program, where buddies learn public speaking and self-advocacy skills. Best Buddies in Michigan strives to open more chapters to transform communities to be more empowering and welcoming spaces for individuals with IDD through the power of friendship. Go Blue, and go Best Buddies!

ChadTough Defeat DIPG Foundation is a charitable organization that was established in honor of Chad Carr, the grandson of former University of Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr. Chad was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), an aggressive and rare form of brain cancer, at the age of three.
 

After Chad's diagnosis, his parents, Jason and Tammi Carr, decided to start a foundation to raise awareness and funds for research into DIPG and other pediatric brain tumors. Eventually joining with the Mosier Family in honor of their son, Michael, the ChadTough Defeat DIPG Foundation aims to find effective treatments and, ultimately, a cure for these devastating diseases.
 

The foundation is now the largest source of private funding for DIPG research worldwide. Working together with almost 40 ChadTough Defeat DIPG Family Partners, the foundation awarded its 50th research grant in 2022 and has helped over 170 families navigate the disease! After decades of little progress, change is finally happening, and researchers are more optimistic than ever that a cure will be found in our lifetime.

Girls Group empowers young women to achieve emotional and economic self-sufficiency by ensuring they graduate from high school and begin their college or career journeys.
 

Girls Group participants are primarily economically disadvantaged, socially and emotionally vulnerable, Black and Brown young women, may be first-generation high school graduates, and have potential to be first-generation college students.
 

We ideally meet participants in 6th grade, and guide them through middle school, high school, college, and career.
 

Girls Group focuses on Academic Readiness, Social Emotional Readiness, Financial Empowerment, and Community Service Learning.
 

Comprehensive year round programming includes weekly in-school programs, college and career prep, college and career support, individual mentoring, summer programming, spring break programming, youth council, weekend programs, and family engagement.

The Humane Society Huron Valley is a non-profit animal welfare organization located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Its mission is to promote the humane treatment of animals and provide compassionate care for homeless animals.

The organization was founded in 1896 and has since grown to become one of the largest and most respected animal welfare organizations in Michigan. It operates a state-of-the-art animal shelter and adoption center, which provides temporary housing and medical care for thousands of animals each year.

In addition to sheltering animals, the Humane Society Huron Valley provides a range of programs and services to support the welfare of animals in the community. These include humane education programs for children, pet behavior and training classes, low-cost spay and neuter services, and a pet food assistance program for families in need.