As Friends of the Children–Klamath Basin ("Friends-Klamath Basin") steps into its 25th year, the organization continues its legacy of breaking generational cycles of poverty through long-term, professional mentorship.

The Friends Model

The Friends model is unique: Pair a child facing the most challenging circumstances with a dedicated "Friend," a full-time, paid mentor — and support them for 12+ years, from kindergarten through high-school graduation, no matter what.

Read that again. No matter what.

Friends work intentionally with each youth:

  • In their classroom
  • In the community
  • At the Friends "Clubhouse" facilities — located in Klamath Falls and Chiloquin

— providing four hours of professional mentoring support per week, year-round.

A Nationwide Movement

Friends–Klamath Basin is part of a nationwide network of 41 chapters and locations across the U.S., all sharing the same goal of empowering youth and breaking generational poverty cycles.

The model was founded in Portland, Oregon in 1993 and has expanded across the country because the outcomes are real and measurable:

  • 83% of Friends youth graduate from high school
  • 93% avoid involvement with the juvenile-justice system
  • 98% avoid early parenting

These are kids whose statistical projections — based on the circumstances they were born into — would have predicted very different outcomes. The Friends model changes those trajectories.

Tangible Results — Making a Difference

A key to Friends–Klamath Basin's success is building authentic relationships based on trust and respect.

By providing consistency — the same Friend, the same Clubhouse, the same weekly hours, year after year — children develop something many of them have never had: an adult who will be there, no matter what.

That stability is what makes the model work. It's also what makes the model so hard to replicate with traditional volunteer mentorship — most volunteers can't commit to 12+ years of weekly engagement. Paid, professional Friends can.

Tommy's Story

The article highlights Tommy, a child whose teacher advocated for him to have a Friend — "a child with so much spark but experiencing struggles at home and demonstrating extreme behavioral isolation" in school.

Over the years, Tommy's relationship with his Friend transformed his trajectory. By the time of his high-school graduation, his mom couldn't hold back her tears of pride.

Tommy's journey through Friends is an investment in his individual future — and in the future of the entire community.

Maria's Growth

The article also features Maria, whose growth across her years with Friends — supported by additional resources the organization is able to provide — demonstrates the compounding impact of consistent mentorship across childhood and adolescence.

Friends doesn't just provide a weekly mentor. It provides access to resources that families navigating poverty often can't access on their own — academic tutoring, mental-health services, nutrition support, summer programming, and the kind of cultural-capital exposure (museums, college tours, professional environments) that opens doors.

The Board of Directors

Friends-Klamath Basin's 2024 Board of Directors:

  • Debi Catron
  • Alycia Edgeworth-Kersey
  • Traci Freid
  • Heidi Gaither
  • Tracy Graham
  • Jessie Hecocta
  • Susan Kandra
  • Tessa Koch
  • Jim McCabe
  • Robert Mulcare
  • Cassi Stevens
  • Heather Tyler
  • Victor Vazquez
  • Hannah Watah
  • Terry Kenfield — Emeriti Board Member

This volunteer board has stewarded the organization through 25 years of growth — and represents the kind of cross-sector Klamath community leadership that makes serious nonprofit work possible.

Why the 12+ Year Commitment Matters

Most mentorship programs are short — a school year, maybe two. Kids who've grown up in unstable environments learn quickly that adults don't stay.

Friends commits for 12+ years. That commitment is what allows the relationship to do its actual work — providing the kind of stable, consistent, decade-long adult presence that rewires what a child believes about whether the world is trustworthy.

How You Can Help

Friends–Klamath Basin needs ongoing community support:

  • Donate — direct funding for Friend salaries, Clubhouse operations, and youth programming
  • Volunteer for organizational support (committee work, events, fundraising — not mentorship itself, which is paid professional work)
  • Spread the word — many basin families and donors don't know Friends exists locally
  • Connect Friends with kids who need them — referrals from teachers, social workers, and family-court partners are core to identifying participants
  • Attend Friends events — the annual fundraisers, gala dinners, and community gatherings

A 25-Year Track Record

Twenty-five years is a long time in nonprofit years. Most organizations don't make it to that anniversary.

That Friends–Klamath Basin has — and has done so while delivering measurable outcomes for hundreds of basin kids — is a credit to the staff, the Friends themselves, the board, the donors, and every Klamath community member who has supported the work.

Here's to the next 25 years.

If you're a kid in the Klamath Basin who needs a Friend, or a family looking for support — Friends is here.

If you're a community member who wants to be part of something that genuinely changes the trajectory of a child's life — so are they, and they need you.

Friends of the Children–Klamath Basin — 25 years strong, and counting.