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Best Buddies
-By Brooke Kelley
Right in the heart of Chicago is
an organization that provides a service for friendships to blossom.
Located in the world's largest commercial building, the Merchandise
Mart, that encompasses 4.2 million square feet-a little more than
two city blocks, is a small non-profit organization, Best Buddies.
The mission of Best Buddies is
to enhance the lives of people with mental retardation by providing
opportunities for socialization and employment. Founded in 1989,
the organization has grown from one single college chapter to
an international organization with 630 high school and college
chapters in the United States, Greece, Canada, and Egypt. Within
Illinois, there are 55 high school and college chapters. During
the last 13 years, Best Buddies has touched the lives of over
175,000 individuals. Even though it has grown tremendously, the
organization is far from their goal of reaching every corner of
United States in the next 10 years.
Best Buddies offers several different
programs each geared to meet the needs of every volunteer.
"For students we would pair them
with a group home like Chicago ARC or any organization that works
with people that have developmental disabilities. We pair the
student group in one-to-one relationships with clients from that
organization. So, each student would have an individual buddy,"
says Jennifer Fadel, state director for Best Buddies.
After the selection process buddies
meet twice a month and talk on the phone once a week just to touch
base.
The Middle School program
is the newest edition to the organization and is designed to help
promote friendships between students with developmental disabilities
and students without disabilities. This program is important because
of the environment in today's middle schools. Often students with
mental retardation learn in the same building, walk in the same
halls, and eat in the same cafeteria as those without disabilities.
Those students that are involved in this program are rewarded
by receiving a wonderful friendship that continues to grow throughout
the years.
Socialization is one of the most
simple, often underestimated, solutions to the pattern of excluding
those students with developmental disabilities. Students also
get the chance to become real life leaders by leading and directing
the chapter in their school, similar to a president of an organization.
The High School Program
is a program that provides an opportunity for high school students
to be matched in a one-to-one friendship with those students who
have metal retardation. By becoming a high school peer buddy,
volunteers have a chance to make new friends while learning about
themselves in the process. High School chapters are active in
421 schools worldwide. Each chapter is registered within the school
organizations and led by a chapter president. The chapter president
has the responsibility of organizing, leading, and maintaining
a charted chapter of Best Buddies for one academic full year.
The College Program pairs those with mental retardation in one-to-one
friendships with college students.
The college program was
the first program to be created within the Best Buddies organization.
College chapters are active on 316 campuses worldwide. Similar
to the high school program, each chapter has a president that
leads and maintains the college chapter for one full academic
year.
"Best Buddies caught my eye at
Loyola and it was the only thing at the recruitment fair that
was working with people with developmental disabilities and it
sounded like something that would be fun… and even after college
I wanted to stay involved and got the chance to do so," says Peter
Johnson, Citizens Program Manager.
The Citizens Program is
another program that pairs those with mental retardation in a
one-to-one friendship with other individuals in the corporate
world.
"Similar to other Best Buddies
programming, what I do is match up volunteers with participants
with developmental disabilities, the major difference of my program
is that the volunteers and the participants are adults 18 and
over and they are not affiliated with any school, it is just volunteers
from the community," Johnson says.
This program is for those who want
to get involved, but are not involved actively in a school setting.
"Best Buddies Citizens has allowed
me to build fulfilling friendships with people who truly appreciate
what a friendship is. Due to the flexibility of the program and
the energy of the buddies, it has been the perfect opportunity
for me to feel part of something great, and meet a lot of incredible
people in the process," says Missy Hostetler, Best Buddies volunteer.
Supported Employment is
a program designed to help those with developmental disabilities
integrate into the community through supported employment. Through
this program, individuals have the opportunity to maintain a job
of their choice by receiving support and training from the volunteers.
Best Buddies has helped to provide employment for over 100 individuals
in Miami, Boston, and Los Angeles areas. The employers range from
some of the top law firms to well know retail agencies. With this
program the organization not only helps build friendships, but
it also helps those with developmental disabilities live normal
lives.
Best Buddies has touched lives
all over the world and continues to grow into a stronger organization
every day. It is hard for one to really understand what the organization
can accomplish without participating in the volunteer experience.
Once a volunteer is paired with his or her buddy, the relationships
can grow into wonderful lifelong friendships.
"In some sense the confusion is
understandable. After all, you come in as the volunteer. Ultimately
what gets through is that you stand to gain personally in immeasurable
ways and you've earned a loyal friend for life," says Barbara
Cushion, Best Buddies Volunteer. The organization benefits both
sides, those with and without disabilities.
If you want to volunteer for Best
Buddies or if you want to find out if your school has a chapter,
you can call the local Chicago office at 312-828-9313 or visit
their web site at www.bestbuddies.org.
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