Best Buddies

CONTACT:

45 Bromfield St., 3rd floor
Boston, MA 02108
(617) 778-0522
www.bestbuddies.org

Audrey Katz, State Director

DESCRIPTION:

Best Buddies Massachusetts is our state’s chapter of a worldwide organization founded in 1989 by Anthony K. Shriver, to help people with intellectual disabilities gain social and economic experiences and opportunities, helping them to lead fulfilling and productive lives. It brings together trained volunteers in high school, college, and the community, and people with intellectual disabilities in one-to-one friendships. By creating a more inclusive, welcoming environment, people with intellectual disabilities gain self-confidence and raise their horizons for more fully-productive and satisfying lives as adults.

Best Buddies supports six programs in Massachusetts. Best Buddies Middle Schools, Best Buddies High Schools and Best Buddies Colleges pair people with intellectual disabilities in one-to-one friendships with fellow students. Best Buddies Citizens pairs an adult with an intellectual disability in a friendship with a person in the community who has similar interests, Best Buddies Jobs is a supported employment program that raises the job competency levels of people with intellectual disabilities by offering highly skilled, trained, loyal employees to Boston-area employers. The organization’s newest program, e-BuddiesSM, leverages the power of the Internet to enable working professionals and people with intellectual disabilities to become e-mail friends.

Best Buddies Massachusetts has grown to support 60 high school and 25 college chapters in the state, has paired more than 400 people with intellectual disabilitie in e-mail friendships and paired 100 people in one-to-one friendships. Its success is fueling rapid growth.

(2000: HUMAN SERVICES: Well-Being)