Friends of the Children – Portland

Mission

Time and relationships are the most valuable resources we have, and that is what Friends of the Children – Portland promises to the young people we serve. We’ve taken mentoring out of the volunteer realm and have a full-time, salaried staff of professional mentors, who we call Friends, to work with 350 youth in the Portland area.

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

Bottom Line for Portland

Our Long Term Outcomes

92% of youth go on to enroll in post-secondary education, serve our country or enter the workforce.

83% of youth receive their high school diploma or GED.

93% of youth remain free from involvement in the juvenile justice system.

98% of youth wait to parent until after their teen years.

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Please watch the video we've included that shares about FriendsPDX's deep impact.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

80% of the youth we serve identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or people of color. We acknowledge the historical and present injustices impacting marginalized communities, to which many of the youth we walk alongside belong to.

Partner(s)

Thank you to The Berlinberg Properties Team at Keller Williams Realty for their $2,500 challenge match. We achieved this goal on Giving Tuesday. We are also grateful to our other anonymous donors who made matched dollar for dollar up to $27.5k. That's a total of $30k in matches for 2023!

We are so grateful to our friends at Water Avenue Coffee for their generous support as an incentive partner.

We are also pleased to continue our long-term partnership with fellow Portland nonprofit, Adventures Without Limits, who provides FriendsPDX with ample opportunities to explore the outdoors.