Friends of the Children

Friends of the Children is the only youth development program breaking the cycle of poverty and violence, preventing school dropout, teen parenting, and criminal activity -- by selecting the most vulnerable children, and making a 12 1/2 year commitment to their success through graduation. It works because:

• We select children who face the most challenges in their home and school environments.
• We start early,in kindergarten or first grade, when the child is eager to learn and grow, but needs the constancy and guidance of a professional mentor.
• We pair each child with a full-time salaried mentor; each child receives atleast four hours of mentoring per week.
• We stay for the long-term, until they graduate from high school, prepared for college and the workforce, no matter what.