2018 IMPACT REPORT BOARD OF DIRECTORS AMBASSADOR BOARD Jenna Mooney—Chair Mary Gordon—Chair Davis Wright Tremaine The Standard • • Maddie Andrews Reed Allen Community Leader Avocor • • Sheelagh Bandettini Evan Amano Dear friend of Friends, Portland General Electric Campbell Global • • It has been a great honor to serve as the new Executive Director for Friends of the Children-Portland during a time of Christopher S. Brisbee Jamee Asher USI Insurance Services Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt • • incredible growth and impact. Thank you for believing in our model and investing in the lifelong success of our youth. Elise Brown Sarah Cieri Ebi Public Affairs Perkins & Co. • • Ryan Buchanan Kecia Classen I find myself frequently in awe of the breadth and depth of the Friend role. Friends work on a highly individualized basis eROI Microsoft • • with each of their youth and their families to help them successfully set and achieve their goals. They also provide Carmen Calzacorta Milo Coy Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt Viking Heating & Sheet Metal opportunities for enriching experiences, and they advocate for additional resources. During a youth’s elementary • • Cynthia Campbell Nick Fix Founder Wells Fargo school years, Friends focus on supporting literacy and math skills. They provide encouragement as youth begin to • • Duncan Campbell Alex Fogg explore new activities and build positive peer and teacher relationships. When youth get older, Friends help youth Founder AgeRight Advantage • • develop critical skills that prepare them for navigating life beyond high school. These skills include building a positive Alyson Day Heidi Goertzen Nike Becker Capital Management network, applying for school and jobs, and finding access to healthcare and housing. • • Bertha Ferran Matty Hackl Community Leader Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon • • Chuck Floberg Tim Jakubowski In 2018, we challenged ourselves to serve more youth. We enrolled our largest selection class yet, consisting of 75 Parker, Smith & Feek KPMG • • kindergartners. We selected 17 new kindergarteners from Roosevelt and Washington elementary schools in Clark Steve Fogg Kevin Kelly Marquis Companies OnPoint Community Credit Union County, WA, where we also successfully opened the doors to our new programming site by galvanizing support from • • Bill Gardner Brandi Kyle our amazing local network of donors. It has been incredible to see the pride youth have in our Portland, Rockwood Morley Financial Services Woodruff Sawyer • • and SW Washington community spaces. Our youth form relationships with each other and the community in ways Mary Gordon—Ambassador Board Liaison Brooke Landon Standard Insurance SurveyMonkey • • that truly embody the positive relationship building and sense of belonging we strive to create. Allyson Harris Amanda Loupin-Bartlett Community Leader Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt • • Jared Holum—Treasurer Brianne Margolin Lastly, our youth had remarkable achievement, with 36 graduating from our program—the largest graduating class Perkins & Co. US Bank • • yet! We are continuously finding new ways to support our youth during their critical growing years to ensure that Windi Martin Jacob Mills Ernst & Young Bridgetown Wealth Management • • when they move on from our program, they have the tools to achieve self-sufficiency and independence. Our Board Andy Miller Andrew O’Neal Baird Brown & Brown Northwest of Directors and organizational leadership recognized this as a top priority in our 2018–2022 Strategic Plan. • • John Nolting Kevin O’Neill KeyBank KinderCare • • Your support truly helps drive greater equity, justice, and opportunity for the youth who face the greatest challenges Jeff Nudelman Dexter Pearce Harsch Investment Properties Stoel Rives • • in our community. I am inspired by the compassion and resilience that guides Friends of the Children—from staff, John Phillips Eli Schmitz Grand + Benedicts Community Leader to our youth and their families, volunteers and donors, and everyone in between—you make this work possible. • • Chantay Reid Gregg Silliman Together, we are breaking the cycle of generational poverty one child at a time, and I can’t wait to see what we CareOregon Hoffman Construction • • achieve together in 2019. Laura Rosenbaum Frank Torresy Stoel Rives Community Leader • • Bruce Schoen Sarah Truax Community Leader Community Leader • • Matt Swaim Courtney Westling With deep appreciation, Nike - AS4 Portland Public Schools Pietro Ferrari, Executive Director We identify children facing the greatest challenges and relentlessly dedicate our time, love, and commitment to them for their entire childhood, empowering them to overcome adversity and build bright Our Mission: futures for themselves, their families, and their communities. 2 3 YOUTH Our Impact in 2018 SUCCESS 50 13 + 6 50 K WHAT ARE ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES? We select youth for our program who are most at-risk of 26% not reaching their full potential due to early adversity. 1 ACE 91% Adverse Childhood Experiences are stressful overall school +17159C experiences occuring in a child’s life that +9 26% attendance rate. 2–3 ACEs can have negative, lifelong effects on 36% 18% 0 ACEs Program 1 ACE 35% health and well being. Traumatic Youth 2–3 ACEs events or risk factors include child maltreatment as well as exposure Rates of 12% to extreme household challenges. Adverse 4+ ACEs Childhood 31% General 4–5 ACEs Population Experiences (ACEs) 90% reported feeling good SUPER STATISTICS! 16% about themselves and are proud of 6+ ACEs who they are. The average number of hours a youth and Friend spend together each month. 9 in 10 adolescents made grade-level progress 18+ toward graduation. 75,924 97% 98.8% of parents 14 avoided teen parenting. and caregivers believe that their child’s life has changed for the HOURS of direct service better since getting a Friend. provided by our Friends. Through funding from the Portland Children’s Levy, we have enrolled 67 youth into our program directly from WHO WE SERVE foster care since 2015. 30% 1% 37 Early Elementary 20% Native (Grades K–2) American, 95% 2014 White/Caucasian Asian, or avoided involvement in the juvenile 39 27% other justice system. “The compassion and care shown by the professional 2015 Intermediate 510 Elementary mentors at Friends of the Children to the youth enrolled TOTAL YOUTH SERVED (Grades 3–5) 23% 33% 50 Multiracial African American in the program is remarkable. Youth in foster care face 2016 21% 36 Middle School 2018 Program (Grades 6–8) many challenges in their lives, and the consistency they 64 Graduates 23% 2017 Latino/Hispanic find through the Friends program provides much-needed 75 22% 5 years Youth Enrolled High School 82% stability and unconditional support.” of enrollment growth in 2018 (Grades 9–12) are thinking of making plans to attend college. – Lisa Hansell, Grant Manager, Portland Children’s Levy 4 5 Oliver* is in the 7th grade. Like many youth, he loves sports, time with the lack of diversity in his school. Spending time especially basketball. “I began noticing how good he was at with a peer who also identified as Black was very positive for basketball within our first couple of outings,” says Jay, his Alik. Reflecting on the year since the two became friends, Friend. Another thing Oliver has in common with other youth Jay says, “I have seen tremendous growth in them both as is that, unfortunately, he is no stranger to bullying. Oliver individuals and in their relationship with each other. They is still learning how to manage his reaction to bullying and have been able to break the stereotype of athletes in that sometimes gets into trouble at school. After speaking with both youth feel comfortable affirming each other and having Oliver’s mom and teachers, Jay learned that much of the vulnerable conversations. Both youth have expressed to me bullying centered on a common theme. Oliver was getting that they see the other as a brother—someone who ‘gets it.’” singled out for not being “tough” or “manly.” IT BECAME What’s more, Oliver hasn’t had any issues in school since CLEAR THAT OLIVER DESPERATELY NEEDED he became friends with Alik. Now he embraces who he is, A PLACE WHERE HE COULD FEEL ACCEPTED feeling validated and affirmed by his strong relationships FOR WHO HE WAS. In previous outings, Jay had noticed outside of school. By building community with these youth, Oliver and another youth he mentors, Alik, bonding over a Jay has created interactions that both felt they were missing. game of basketball. “So I began to think that pairing the “Though the youth pairing was originally facilitated by me,” two together might benefit both of them,” Jay said. Alik had says Jay, “the two now have a very real bond that models Relationships Built on Trust recently moved to Battleground, WA and was having a hard what peer-support can truly look like.” Trust does not come easily to Gabriela.* It was something feel like anyone would listen; or worse, they would listen Belonging and Basketball that her mentor, Lauren, would have to earn. “Gabriela didn’t and soon abandon her. Since learning to trust Lauren, talk to me for about a year,” says Lauren. Pushing through Gabriela has been able to also form positive relationships the awkward silences, Lauren would continue to meet with adults whom she trusts. Gabriela knows that her dad, Gabriela regularly, picking her up from school every week, her teacher, and Lauren are there for good. Lauren goes to helping with homework, and meeting her friends. “I often Gabriela’s school once a week and frequently joins her for wondered whether or not I was a good fit,” says Lauren, visits with her math teacher in which she receives additional “but then after a year she opened up.” Lauren learned instruction. Gabriela is from a Spanish-speaking home and that Gabriela had conditioned herself to not get attached. entered kindergarten still learning English. Today, she is Reflecting on their first year together, Gabriela had shared reading at grade level and literature is her favorite subject.