Friends of the Children was founded in 1993 in Portland, OR with just three Friends—salaried, professional mentors—and 24 children. Today, we are a national network with 26 locations across the country, and we are a $50 million network.
Friends of the Children was founded by Duncan Campbell, a successful business entrepreneur whose own troubled childhood inspired him to found the organization. Our innovative model pairs children who are in foster care or in high-poverty schools with a Friend. Each child selected for the program has a Friend by their side from kindergarten through high school graduation—12+ years, no matter what.
Research has shown that to break the cycle of generational poverty, children need long-term, relationship-based support to graduate from high school, remain free from involvement in the criminal justice system, wait to parent until after their teen years, and pursue opportunities through post-secondary education, serving our country or finding living-wage employment.
Third-party evaluation of program graduates shows that:
• 83% of our youth graduate with a high school diploma or a GED;
• 93% remain free from juvenile justice system involvement;
• 98% wait until after their teen years to become parents; and
• 92% go on to enroll in post-secondary education, serve our country, or enter the workforce.
Our successful model is now in 22 locations, including four sites in Oregon (Portland, Gresham, Klamath Basin, Lane County and Central Oregon); three sites in California (Antelope Valley, Los Angeles, and San Francisco); three sites in Washington (Tacoma, Seattle, and Southwest Washington); Austin, TX; Boston, MA; Charlotte, NC; Detroit, MI; Fargo, ND and Moorhead, MN; Harlem and the South Bronx, NY; Salt Lake City, UT; Tampa Bay, FL; and Cornwall, United Kingdom.
