By Matt Springer, August 17, 2020, The Register Guide.
Many of us have been struggling with the structural inequities laid bare by COVID-19 and highlighted by the recent protests across the country, and more importantly, trying to identify ways to dismantle racism and systemic injustice. While this moment requires relentless pursuit of multiple avenues of change, I am particularly excited that Friends of the Children, a national organization, announced they are launching a Lane County chapter as one way of focusing on long-term social transformation.
The fifth Friends of the Children location in Oregon, Friends of the Children-Lane County will select a group of talented and big-dreaming youth that also have been impacted by economic instability, foster care, racism, parental substance abuse and other traumatic events that create instability in their lives.
Each child will be paired with a paid, professional mentor (a Friend) whose full-time job will be to stay with each child from as early as age 4 through high school graduation 12-plus years, no matter what. As part of our program, we will be implementing a two-generation (2Gen) approach that focuses on supporting youth and their parents or caregivers in achieving overall health and well-being.
While we proudly broker in hope, independent research also shows that our model (intensive, trauma and culturally informed, long-term, one-on-one mentoring) can effectively break the cycle of poverty. Ninety-two percent go on to enroll in post-secondary education, serve our country or enter the workforce; 83% of program youth receive a high school diploma or GED; 93% remain free from juvenile justice system involvement, and 98% successfully wait to become parents until after their teens. According to a report by the Harvard Business School Association of Oregon these impacts save the community $26 for every $1 invested.
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