History

The original Friends of the Children model was created in Portland, Oregon in 1993 and now serves 700 children across the country. Friends of the Children-Boston (Friends-Boston) is the first non-profit organization whose establishment in Boston was supported by the GreenLight Fund. The GreenLight Fund identified the Friends of the Children model as a ground-breaking, innovative, and results-oriented model that would fill a need in Boston and founded Friends-Boston in 2004.

Since our founding in Boston in 2004, Friends-Boston has grown from 16 Achievers selected from one Boston Public School to more than 100 Achievers in 26 different Boston Public Schools. Through our Family Friends as well as strong partnerships with several area corporations, we engage families and companies to support Achievers for success. In 2008 Friends-Boston was selected as a new grantee of the Corporation for National and Community Service and the Massachusetts Service Alliance, allowing us to double the number of Achievers in the Friends-Boston Program.

In 2009-2010 more than 100 Achievers will be enrolled in our twelve year program. Our goal is to have 300 Achievers and 100 volunteers engaged in our program by 2012.