Friends of the Children needs to raise $5 million to provide our children in East County the safe and nurturing environment that every child deserves. More than 50% of our youth live east of 82nd Avenue, and we know that this population will continue to grow as more families move eastward in search of affordable housing. By 2018, over 75% of our youth will live in East County.

Friends will need to have a physical presence in that community to continue to serve our youth. For more than a year, a committee of board members, skilled volunteers, and staff have been searching for and evaluating a number of property options in East County. We have secured land next to Pat Pfeiffer Park on NE 172nd Ave, in collaboration with the City of Gresham.

For too many children in our community, their zip code determines their opportunity to succeed in life. Your investment in this campaign will have a measureable impact on children who, by no fault of their own, were born into the most difficult of circumstances. Your investment in Friends of the Children will allow children to break generational cycles of school failure, early parenting, and incarceration.

Your investment will change lives.