Friends of the Children - Portland

06/19/2026

Happy Juneteenth! 🧡💛💚🖤

We had a big Juneteenth BBQ celebration last night with our staff, youth, and families to honor and recognize history of emancipation while celebrating Black resilience and joy.

We had so much amazing food, face painting, balloon art, and a raffle. Thanks to all who came out! 💛

06/18/2026

So grateful for our partnership with Classic Wines for the Salon de Vin event last month! Proceeds from this event will support our mission of walking alongside Portland youth for 12+ years 🩵

Thank you Classic Wines!

06/18/2026

It's graduation season! 🎓 This month, Tyler, one of our paid, professional mentors, watched several of the young men he's mentored for years walk across the graduation stage. We are so proud of these young men for reaching this milestone!

Congrats to all of the FriendsPDX graduates! 🎉🩵

06/18/2026

Summer activities are in full swing, and this week a group of FriendsPDX mentors and youth went outdoor rock climbing with our new friends at Loco por la Aventura! 🩵

We had fun, tested ourselves, and learned a few new things.

At the end of the day, our instructor said that climbing is such a great parallel for life because it's easy to compare yourself to the people around you, but all you can do is focus on your own journey and progress. 🩵

06/17/2026

It's a bittersweet season at FriendsPDX because we are sending off 25 young people as they finish our program after 12 years. 🩵

Staff, mentors, and youth gathered to recognize this milestone in their journey, and a key theme of the night was: "this is not the end."

One mentor said, "A beautiful part of this program is that you get to see an individual go through all these different chapters of life," and we couldn't have said it better.

FriendsPDX alumni, you will always be part of this community! We are sad to see you leave, but are so proud of the people you are and who you're becoming! 🩵

06/15/2026

Professional mentoring is more than showing up—it’s changing outcomes. Paid, professional mentors at Friends of the Children - Portland show up every week, building trust and safety while helping youth and families access the services they need.

Over time, that support adds up: In 2025, 97% of FriendsPDX youth made progress on health and wellbeing goals, and 87% made progress on social-emotional skills

06/10/2026

We had such a great time on the green yesterday at the Bridge to Kids Charity Golf Tournament!

Huge thanks to anyone who stopped by our table to learn more about the power of long-term, professional mentorship.

So grateful to Bridge2Kids for organizing and selecting us as a recipient! We loved seeing so many people coming out to support young people in Portland.

06/08/2026

In case you missed it, last month we were K103's featured nonprofit! 🩵

Our Executive Director, Traci Rossi, hopped on a Facebook Live to talk with Stacey & Mike about what we do and the impact that mentors can have on young people.

We really appreciate Stacey & Mike asking real, thoughtful questions, and sharing our story with their listeners.

Stacey Lynn and Mike Chase From K103 Mornings with Stacey and Mike in Portland, Oregon Explore New Ways To Support Different Non-Profits and Charities Month to Month

06/04/2026

At the beginning of this year, Liliana* was a few levels behind in reading and writing and didn't love going to school.

Tosha, her mentor, wanted to help her get to a place where she could enjoy going to school, so she partnered with the FriendsPDX School Success team and Liliana's mom to find the right kind of educational support for Liliana.

Through regular tutoring, Liliana is now at a place where she's excited about school and proud of the progress she's made. Her next big goal is to read the Junie B. Jones books on her own, and she's getting close!

Read her full story! https://friendspdx.org/stories/its-pretty-fun-actually

*Name changed for privacy.