Friends of the Children-Portland

Friends of the Children-Portland is one of the organizations participating in A Community Thrives, a program that supports community improvement ideas with grants up to $100K. To qualify for a grant from the Gannett Foundation, we need to meet a fundraising goal from our own network. Help us raise $6,000 by making a donation now through August 13th. Donations must be made through our MightyCause page to count toward our goal. Please make your gift today!

About Friends of the Children-Portland:

The Portland chapter of Friends of the Children provides high-priority youth in Portland, Oregon, with 1:1, intensive, long-term mentoring. We take an early intervention approach that breaks the cycle of poverty by helping our youth overcome the many obstacles in their lives and prepare for adulthood.

Three key elements that make Friends of the Children so unique:

1. We mentor the children in our community who need us the most.
2. Our mentors (called Friends) are full-time, paid, and professionally trained.
3. We make a twelve and a half year (12 ½) commitment to each child, enrolling them in kindergarten and walking alongside them through high school graduation.

We identify kindergarteners most likely to benefit from our program during an 8-week selection process. Children are evaluated for instances of childhood trauma and the least protective factors to help mitigate that trauma.

Once selected, each child is assigned to a Friend. This Friend will spend an average of 16 hours per month with the child both in and out of school. Friends work with youth to build long-term relationships based on mutual respect and trust, and create enriching academic and skill-building activities that nurture physical and mental health, life skills, social-emotional development, academic success, and lifelong resiliency.