The Source Weekly: Giving Kids a Consistent Caring Adult Throughout Their Lives

You might have heard of volunteer programs that place a positive adult with a child in need of extra support. Friends of the Children–Central Oregon builds on that model—but does it by enlisting Friends who earn a full-time salary for their mentorship.

Founded in Portland, Ore., in 1993 by Duncan Campbell, a Portland-area man who himself experienced a host of adverse childhood experiences, Friends of the Children's model is based on research showing that kids who have at least one consistent, caring adult in their lives are more likely to overcome childhood experiences such as homelessness, neglect, parental incarceration, drug and alcohol abuse in their homes, poverty and domestic violence.