How is Friends Supporting Our Youths’ Education This Year?

As program youth and their families gear up for distance learning this fall, Friends of the Children-Portland is committed to supporting their needs while staying connected in virtual spaces. Our support includes:

Links to Q&A sessions: Our youth attend school in 31 school districts or private schools, and we are working to ensure that they have the most accurate information from their individual schools as the new year begins.

Connecting youth to digital devices: Our goal is to ensure that every youth has the device they need to learn from home. We have secured 130 iPads via corporate donations and will loan them to youth who lack digital devices at home. Friends have also helped families contact their internet provider to request fee waivers and prevent shutoffs during this time.

Staying in touch: Youth have expressed a strong desire to stay connected and have the support of their Friend to feel some safety and normalcy during this very uncertain time. They have sought opportunities to talk about their fears, challenges, hopes, and dreams authentically and organically, and their relationship with their Friend gives them the space to do that. Youth may have lost school and community-based connections, but their relationship with their Friend has remained a constant.

Caregiver connections: Our caregivers are vulnerable to increased stress as they navigate poverty, COVID-19 isolation, and the strain of remote learning. We plan to support families by creating learning communities for our youth to work on school assignments. We will distribute after school snacks to help families with food insecurity and provide supports to set up successful remote learning. We will also continue to deliver food boxes and connect families to basic needs supports and resources.

In it for the long haul: we are here to support our youth as they re-engage in remote learning and continue to work toward their short- and long-term educational goals. We will also be here when the pandemic subsides, and youth re-acclimate to an in-school learning environment.

You Can Be Part of this Story.

Your investment is crucial to our mission and assures our youth that they matter, they have what it takes to make a positive difference in the world, and you are here to help them succeed. 

By donating now, you are ensuring a successful start to the new school year and access to opportunities that will help them reach their goals and become leaders of tomorrow. 

Help us in build a stronger community for the future.