Nonprofit of the Year | Small: On Angels’ Wings

Last edited 1:19 p.m., Aug. 3, 2026 [Editor's note: The number of families served has been corrected.]

On Angels’ Wings provides photography as part of long-term emotional and grief support for families, working to preserve memories during some of the worst times of parents’ lives.

“Our organization serves families that have lost a child at birth or have a child with a medical diagnosis that puts their life at risk,” says Michelle Cramer, founder and executive director of OAW.

Through trauma-informed photography, the nonprofit provides photos for clients to make sure those memories are kept. It was founded in 2013.

“That is what we call our therapeutic photography,” Cramer says.

Beyond photography, OAW offers memorial gifts and grief recovery for adults and children.

OAW last year started a children’s grief recovery program, called Legacy of Hope, to provide grief services for siblings of infant loss or children who have a terminal-risk diagnosis.

“We were finding that there wasn’t services for those specific niches in the community,” Cramer says.

To support its grief programs, in 2020, two OAW board members received certification as grief recovery specialists. Today, the organization has five certified providers.

The certified providers offer one-on-one or group programs, virtually or in-person.

OAW has served over 2,500 families who have lost a child. Nonprofit officials note that many siblings are grieving the loss as well.

OAW hosted its first grief recovery camp in December 2025, officials say. Additional camps are being planned.

For Cramer, the reason for starting OAW came when she had her own child.

“It wasn’t fair that I got to bring my baby home and they don’t,” she says. “I had been a photographer for a year, and that was something I could do to help these families.