Friends of the Children Fargo-Moorhead feels they came to the F-M community at the perfect time. Launched in July 2019, Friends had completed the selection of their first class of children into their long-term mentoring program just weeks before talk of school closures and social distancing began sweeping the nation.
Friends Fargo-Moorhead has continued to support enrolled youth and their families throughout the pandemic, but the added support that was needed came at a price. Thanks to a $10,000 Community Response Grant from FM Area Foundation, Friends will be able to support families in new ways to help ease the added burden this crisis has placed on some of our community’s most vulnerable.
While new to Fargo-Moorhead, Friends of the Children is a national non-profit network that has been supporting youth facing great obstacles through their unique long-term mentoring program for over 26 years. Their secret sauce? A proven mentoring model that has been shown through third party research to break the cycle of generational poverty.
Through referrals from schools and social service agencies, Friends paired sixteen 4-6 year olds facing great challenges with professional, salaried mentors, called Friends. Friends commit to supporting each youth on their roster, as well as their families, for 4 hours per week from kindergarten through high school graduation.
The families served by Friends Fargo-Moorhead were already facing tremendous stress prior to the COVID-19 crisis. Families in shelters are not able to adequately social distance. Families who had finally gotten steady employment have seen layoffs. Students who were growing academically are now struggling to transition to learning online and falling behind.
Mentors have stepped in to bridge technology and communication gaps between families and schools, assist caregivers in applying for unemployment, receiving stimulus payments and obtaining emergency grant funding. They have delivered food and supplies and provided fun and enriching activities for their youth. They have also been supporting children in foster care settings.
During extended periods of time at home child safety is also a key concern, especially in households that have past Child Protective Services involvement. Through regular check ins with youth and their caregivers, Friends have been keeping a close eye on stress levels in each household and looking for ways to help when needed.
This grant, which was funded by the FM Area Foundation’s Community Response Fund of Cass and Clay Counties, will help defray the added costs of providing one-on-one services during school closures and provide for immediate family needs during this time of crisis, as well as assist in program expansion to support additional youth and families.
Visit www.friendsfargomoorhead.org to learn more about the Friends mentoring model, and watch the Power of One video, which beautifully illustrates this proven program and its remarkable outcomes.