Brian was around 6 years old when he first joined Friends of the Children - Portland. He describes himself as a chaotic kid with a lot of energy and nowhere to channel it.

He grew up with a loving single mom who worked hard and often came home exhausted. She didn’t always have the energy to support Brian to find ways to burn off that energy in productive ways.

At Friends, Brian had more structured outlets with his first mentor Greg who brought him on hikes, introduced him to new hobbies, and supported him with schoolwork. Later on, Brian’s second mentor Paul, introduced him to even more activities like a biking group and swimming outings.

As Paul reflects on their time together, he commented, “It's been really cool to see Brian's growth and shift and transition since he was six years old. We'd work on redirecting him into spaces. We would go biking to locations, go to swimming pools, do group hikes and everything.”

One of the opportunities that came up for Brian during his time at Friends, was to join a river rafting trip with a partner organization called LEAP, or Life Expanding Adventure Program.

“I think it was junior year, or just the year before that, when Paul brought up LEAP. Previously I'd only done one river-related thing, and it was also through Friends. So, I was like, "You know what? Why not? I'll get away from the house and go explore the wilderness for five days."”

Brian and Paul set out with a group from FriendsPDX to experience a once in a lifetime river rafting experience on the Salmon River in Idaho. They worked together to navigate the rapids and had several deep and vulnerable conversations by the riverside.

During the trip, Brian said it changed from something that was just fun to something that was meaningful. He said: “Things shifted from it just being super fun trip where I'm meeting new people and connecting with them to being like, "This river does things to me and brings out a sort of safety for me."”

Another adult in Brian’s life at that time who had an impact on him was Seth Truby, the former Executive Director of LEAP, who joined several FriendsPDX trips on the river.

Seth reflected, “One of the unique aspects about the Friends trip was that mentors and youth were going along together. You'd see the relationships deepen and strengthen through the course of the shared experience.”

Seth also commented: “During my years with LEAP, Brian was one of those people who felt like he was in his element. He just looked like he belonged on the river, and he was confident and calm."

Seth noticed that Brian was a natural on the river and invited him to be part of a river guide training program the following summer. Brian accepted and now has been a river guide with LEAP for the last three summers.

This spring, Brian came back to FriendsPDX to give a presentation to the young people that are currently in our program to share more about the LEAP trip. It was full circle moment for him to be able to share something he’s super passionate about with a community that has been a huge part of his life.

As Brian reflected, he said: “Right now in life, I feel pretty happy with it. I love showing people the magic of the river and what it has done for me, and hoping I can share that with other people.”

Paul also reflected on their time together: “Just seeing his growth and how he's grown into a more mature young adult, the effort that he puts in, and just the love and care that he has for people — it's been really cool.”

On having a mentor, Brian said: “Having Paul as a mentor has definitely given me some sort of a standard of a human being I want to be, and gave me kind of a direction to who I wanted to be as an adult and how I wanted to hold myself, with respect for others and respect for myself.”