Friends of the Children - SF Bay Area

We serve children living in the poorest, most underserved communities in San Francisco -- Bayview Hunters Point, Potrero Hill and Visitation Valley. Approximately 50% of our children are African American, 40% Latino and 10% Asian or Pacific Islander. In the midst of America's most vibrant economy, our children face immense economic and societal obstacles.

Our goal is to help each of those children overcome those obstacles and go on to live productive, satisfying lives. Friends of the Children has 25 years of independently documented results demonstrating that our graduates can and will break the generational cycle of poverty.

Beyond changing the life trajectory of each individual child, we look to support our children's communities. For example, we enroll as many children as possible who live in public housing because concentrating our services in those small, highly challenged communities will inevitably have positive ripple effects for all residents of the communities. Likewise, our school partners tell us that, by working with their most challenging students and by helping school personnel connect with families who were previously less involved in their children's education, our mentors improve the functioning of the entire school.

We invest heavily in each child because the obstacles they face are immense, the value of each life is immeasurable and the benefits to society are immense.

Our model is distinct, courageous and proven. We have redefined the youth mentoring field by creating the first and only long-term professional mentoring program in the country. Our Friends are experts in building sustained and nurturing relationships with youth. We specialize in working with youth who have faced a lot of adversity. We have the data to show that it's real and it works.

Our model was founded on research showing that the single most important factor in overcoming childhood adversity is a long-term, nurturing relationship with a consistent and caring adult. Research over the past three decades continues to affirm how much these relationships matter.

Our trauma-informed, long-term mentoring model is now being sought after by communities and systems around the country and the world. They recognize that children who've experienced a lot of adversity need more specialized and long-term mentoring relationships that Friends of the Children–San Francisco provides.

We proactively identify and enroll only the children facing the greatest barriers to success. We pair each child with a professional – not volunteer – mentor, whose full-time job is to spend 16 hours per month supporting each of eight children. We commit to stay with each child from kindergarten through high school graduation – 12-1/2 years, no matter what! We apply a rigorous, evidence-based approach at every stage, monitoring each child's progress, and adjusting our approach accordingly.

We use multiple intermediary indicators over the course of the 12 year commitment to track the progress of our youth. 92% of youth go on to enroll in post-secondary education, serve our country or enter the workforce.83% of youth earn a high school diploma or GED. 93% of youth remain free from juvenile justice system involvement. 98% of youth wait to parent until after their teen years.