About

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Friends of the Children–Lane County Oregon is part of a national network of Friends of the Children chapters across the United States. Friends of the Children connects children – all of whom have unique talents – to a paid, professional mentor called a Friend. We hire and train Friends whose full-time jobs are to support our youth to succeed, despite the extremely challenging situations most experience, from as early as age 4 through high school graduation – 12+ years, no matter what.

Our model is distinct, courageous and proven. We redefined youth mentoring by creating the first and only long-term professional mentoring program in the country. Friends are experts in building sustained and nurturing relationships with youth. Our model is evidence-informed and research-based, and we have proven long-term outcomes to show it works.

This is at the core of what we do. Each day, our Friends advocate and help amplify the voices of our youth and their families who often become voiceless in the midst of the systemic failures. By challenging the status quo, we also help shift the way institutions and systems view and treat our youth and their families. Friends also create meaningful experiences that teach youth to build life skills and make informed decisions while exploring the child’s diverse talents and interests.

Our model is real, and it works.

Our Mission

Impacting generational change by empowering youth who are facing the greatest obstacles through relationships with professional mentors – 12+ years, no matter what.

Values

Our values guide us to achieve our mission. Each value applies not only to our youth, Friends and program teams, but also applies to all Friends of the Children employees, volunteers and partners. We use our values to make informed decisions; to hire, coach, manage; and most importantly, we use our values to change the way the world treats and views the youth and families we serve.

Put Children First

We intentionally serve youth who are facing the greatest obstacles. To help our youth discover their limitless potential, we foster their internal resiliency. We listen to our youth and base decisions on each youth’s needs and dreams. We prioritize self-care so that we bring our best selves to our work and focus on our youth.

Build Relationships on Love

We nurture long-term relationships from a foundation of love, acceptance and culturally-informed practice. We don’t give up easily and take a no matter what approach to our work. We commit for the long-term. We intentionally develop collaborative relationships over time with trust, empathy and healthy communication. We believe that we build community through one-on-one connections that are authentic, respectful and meaningful.

Commit to Empowerment

We leverage personal strengths to take ownership of our futures. We build relationships within the communities of our youth and families to strengthen social networks and provide bridges to new opportunities. We consistently inspire possibility through empathy, hard work and fun. We model all of this for our youth, families and each other.

Pursue Goals Relentlessly

We celebrate all achievements, big and small. We are disciplined in our commitment to goals, while innovative in how we reach them. We believe that the definition of success requires intentional reflection and adjustment over time. We work together and hold ourselves accountable with data to achieve short and long-term outcomes.

Demand Equity

We acknowledge the historical and present injustices impacting marginalized communities. We demand equity from ourselves and from our community. We insist that all people have the necessary support to achieve all of their hopes and dreams. We amplify the voices of our children, families and communities. We bring together different experiences, skills and backgrounds to provide opportunities to overcome personal, systemic and institutional barriers.

Friends of the Children has a thorough, comprehensive business plan and expansion strategy with the aim of having organizational chapters in 25 locations by 2025. Amy Tykeson, acclaimed business leader and philanthropist, became a strong advocate and catalyst for making Lane County a key option for expansion by pledging a $300,000 seed funding gift. A needs assessment with local community leaders followed, where we learned that despite a significant drop in the number of Lane County youth in foster care in 2020, 30-35 youth were still entering care every month and that the Friends of the Children model could help provide preventive supports and community connections to keep families together long-term without formal state intervention.

After conducting a community resource gap analysis and exploring how a new chapter could complement the fabric of existing service programs in the region, Friends of the Children–National team members, Susan Walsh and Angela Groves, spearheaded a fundraising campaign to launch the organization. Susan, who had ten years of local experience growing the Committed Partners for Youth mentoring agency, leveraged the generosity of former CPY donors and others to advance the fundraising for Friends–Lane County. Seed funding was raised by March 2020, comprised of local pledges, a discretionary federal sub-award from the U.S. Dept of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and a few pledges from national donors, including Friends of the Children’s founder, Duncan Campbell.

Executive Director Matt Springer was brought on in early July of 2020 to start the organization. The organization came into fruition at a time when the growing equity gap was being laid bare by the COVID19 pandemic, anti-racism protests across the nation, and a horrific wildfire season. With the support of an amazing community, a strong set of initial partners, and a resilient staff - the organization began its long-term quest to break the cycles of disadvantage forever – one youth at a time.
Friends of the Children was established in 1993 by entrepreneur Duncan Campbell and his wife, Cindy Campbell, in Portland, Ore. The Campbells purchased a school building in the same Northeast Portland neighborhood where Duncan experienced a challenging childhood. After finding business success, Duncan wanted to help kids who grew up in an environment like his. In 1992, the Campbell Institute for Children, conducted extensive research to determine the most effective program model to help young children overcome adversity and realize their inherent resilience and potential. The research clearly indicated that the strongest protective factor a child can have is a long-term, nurturing relationship with a consistent and caring adult.

Friends of the Children began with just three salaried, professional mentors called Friends and 24 children. Friends of the Children has grown to employ hundreds of Friends who serve thousands of children across the nation. You can view the full list of locations on our national website.