Our Mission
Impacting generational change by empowering youth who are facing the greatest obstacles through relationships with professional mentors – 12+ years, no matter what.
Friends of the Children–Utah is part of a national network of Friends of the Children chapters across the United States. Friends of the Children connects children – all of whom have unique talents – to a paid, professional mentor called a Friend. We hire and train Friends whose full-time jobs are to support our youth to succeed, despite the extremely challenging situations most experience, from as early as age 4 through high school graduation – 12+ years, no matter what.
Our model is distinct, courageous and proven. We redefined youth mentoring by creating the first and only long-term professional mentoring program in the country. Friends are experts in building sustained and nurturing relationships with youth. Our model is evidence-informed and research-based, and we have proven long-term outcomes to show it works.
This is at the core of what we do. Each day, our Friends advocate and help amplify the voices of our youth and their families who often become voiceless in the midst of the systemic failures. By challenging the status quo, we also help shift the way institutions and systems view and treat our youth and their families. Friends also create meaningful experiences that teach youth to build life skills and make informed decisions while exploring the child’s diverse talents and interests.
Our model is real, and it works.
Impacting generational change by empowering youth who are facing the greatest obstacles through relationships with professional mentors – 12+ years, no matter what.
At the core of Friends of the Children’s mission is our organizational value of putting children first—walking alongside youth who face some of life’s hardest challenges from kindergarten through high school, for 12+ years no matter what.
Putting Children First as a key value for the organization means that the youth we serve are the primary focus of everything we do at Friends of the Children. We intentionally serve youth who are facing great obstacles. We listen to youth and base decisions on their needs and dreams, as they write their own stories of success. We foster a supportive, consistent relationship between each youth and professional mentor—a relationship that grows through high school, and into their adult lives.
We nurture long-term relationships from a foundation of love and acceptance. Our practice is rooted in the wisdom of communities, tailoring support to honor each youth’s unique identity and shared heritage. We don’t give up easily and take a no matter what approach to our work. We intentionally develop collaborative relationships over time with trust, empathy and healthy communication. We build community through one-on-one connections that are authentic, respectful and meaningful.
We leverage personal strengths to take ownership of our futures. We build relationships within the communities of our youth and families to strengthen social networks and provide bridges to new opportunities. We consistently inspire possibility through empathy, hard work and fun. We model all of this for our youth, families and each other.
We celebrate all achievements, big and small. We are disciplined in our commitment to goals, while innovative in how we reach them. We believe that the definition of success requires intentional reflection and adjustment over time. We work together and hold ourselves accountable with data to achieve short and long-term outcomes.
We believe everyone deserves the chance to reach their full potential, because where you start shouldn’t decide how far you go. We advocate to ensure every child, regardless of historical and present challenges, has the resources, support, and voice needed to thrive. We amplify and listen to the hopes and dreams of the children, families, and communities we serve. We harness different perspectives to overcome barriers and drive measurable change for every child. Together, we work to challenge and remove obstacles so potential isn’t limited by any circumstance.
Friends of the Children–Utah was the dream that started in December of 2018 when Friends' National Board Member Peggy McGuire introduced Jennifer Danielson and Jim Swayze, leaders at Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah, to our model. Those Utah health care leaders agreed that the model addressed key issues facing Utah children and families. In January of 2019, one of the founders of the Seattle chapter, Mike Murray, was inspired to host an intimate dinner in Salt Lake City, which included many local businesses and philanthropic leaders. At that dinner, Clark Ivory and Lisa Eccles were inspired by our impact data and invited a deeper conversation about the importance of the work to address the issue of intergenerational poverty in Utah.
Those paths converged, and the drive to open a chapter in Utah was born. Catalytic investments from Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah, the Clark and Christine Ivory Foundation and the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation started that work in earnest and were quickly augmented by investments from the Crystal Springs Foundation (Mike and Joyce Murray), the Sorenson Legacy Foundation and the Miller Family Foundation. These generous funders donated to form our seed money, which was instrumental in standing up our chapter in Utah. Within ten months, we secured over $1.6M in seed capital and had met with over 50 community leaders in both the private and public sectors to build support. We started our hiring processes in December 2019, and even in the wake of an unexpected pandemic and an earthquake, we moved forward with staff hiring, building partner relationships, and enrolled our first cohort of youth and caregivers in 2020.
Friends–Utah is working with area organizations such as the Utah Department of Human Services Division of Child and Family Services, Utah Community Action, the Children’s Center and more, serving families impacted by intergenerational poverty, foster care and other systemic barriers to identify and enroll children ages 4 to 6 in the program. Each child will be paired with a one-on-one Friend who will spend three to four hours a week through high school graduation—12+ years, no matter what.
Friends–Utah is implementing an intentional Two-Generation (2Gen) approach, working with parents to build critical parenting skills that empower them to advocate for their child in school and strengthen bonds. Friends will also support parents in accessing housing, employment and social service resources while measuring both youth and parent outcomes.
Friends of the Children was established in 1993 by entrepreneur Duncan Campbell and his wife, Cindy Campbell, in Portland, Ore. The Campbells purchased a school building in the same Northeast Portland neighborhood where Duncan experienced a challenging childhood. After finding business success, Duncan wanted to help kids who grew up in an environment like his. In 1992, the Campbell Institute for Children, conducted extensive research to determine the most effective program model to help young children overcome adversity and realize their inherent resilience and potential. The research clearly indicated that the strongest protective factor a child can have is a long-term, nurturing relationship with a consistent and caring adult.
Friends of the Children began with just three salaried, professional mentors called Friends and 24 children. Friends of the Children has grown to employ hundreds of Friends who serve thousands of children across the nation. You can view the full list of locations on our national website.