DEAR FRIENDS,

For more than three decades, Friends of the Children has been walking alongside youth and families, and it is your support that has made this work possible.

As our 30th anniversary celebration comes to a close in this 2023-2024 Impact Report, I’m honored to share stories that focus on the grit, resiliency, and determination of the youth we serve. This Impact Report highlights five graduates who graciously shared their stories with us—each from a Friends of the Children chapter that has been serving youth for more than 20 years.

You’ll read about Tah-Jae Franklyn, a talented singer who’s opened for superstar Macklemore and is a graduate of Friends – Seattle. And you’ll learn how Miguel Guerrero, a graduate of Friends – Boston, still hones his talent for figuring out how things work as he builds a career centered around cars and transportation. You’ll meet Truett Rose-Noneo, a graduate from Friends – Klamath Basin, who just rented his first apartment on his own near the Klamath Tribe fish hatchery where he works. You’ll journey with us overseas to talk with Taj Wortham, a graduate of Friends – Portland, a trained firefighter and EMT who is serving our country in the U.S. Marines in Japan. Finally, you’ll go with us to Atlanta to meet Freddi McCullers, a graduate of Friends – New York, a seasoned international traveler who began her own successful event planning company.

Duncan Campbell founded Friends of the Children in 1993 in Portland, Oregon with 24 youth and three Friends. In those first years we were told that our research-informed model wouldn’t scale, that our plan to walk alongside youth for 12+ years, no matter what wouldn’t work. Today, a little over 30 years later, we have grown into a national network serving 3,000 children and 15,000 family members in 40+ locations including partnerships with Sovereign Tribal Nations.

This phenomenal growth is thanks to your support and to an evidence-based long-term mentoring model that focuses on empowering youth with big dreams who also face some of the hardest things in life including poverty, foster care, housing insecurity, and more.

Our national network is well on the way to meeting our goal of reducing the number of 5-year-olds who enter foster care by 10% by 2030, thanks to funders and partners like you, and to the tireless support of advocates like basketball legend Michael Jordan, GRAMMY award-winning artist Ciara and Superbowl champion Russell Wilson.

Just months ago, youth advocate and World Champion gymnast Simone Biles became the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast in history with 11 medals, winning 3 golds and 1 silver at the Paris Olympics, and throughout 2024 she also prioritized shining a light on Friends of the Children through TV, magazine, and newspaper interviews, in-person support of youth and our work, and her wide reach of influence on social media.

All of this means more and more communities are inviting Friends of the Children to walk alongside youth, as we work toward our biggest goal of all—the day where every child who needs a Friend has one.

Terri Sorensen | National CEO, Friends of the Children