FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN – PROFESSIONAL MENTOR "FRIEND"

Friends of the Children- Portland and Southwest Washington is a nonprofit that is breaking the cycle of generational poverty by giving youth facing the most obstacles the ability to create a new story. We do this by providing youth in our program with a long-term, salaried, professional mentor, who we call a “Friend,” from kindergarten through high school graduation, 12 ½ years – no matter what. We are currently seeking an extraordinary professional to embark on a new career journey as a Friend at our Portland and SW Washington Chapter.  

At Friends of the Children we put youth first and use our values to change the way the world treats and views our most vulnerable youth. As a Friend you will nurture long-term relationships from a foundation of love, intention, acceptance, and culturally informed practice. Do you want to help nine of our youth discover their limitless potential, by fostering their internal resiliency?  Are you ready to help build relationships within the communities of our youth and families to strengthen social networks and provide bridges to new opportunities?  If so, the crucial role of a Friend might be for you.  

Curious to learn more? See the position details below.

JOB DESCRIPTION:

A Friend works intensively with a roster of 9-10 youth. The youth may vary in age from K-12th grade youth. This position is based in Southwest Washington.  We are currently seeking a mentor to serve as a positive adult role model to 9-10 youth and develop loving, caring, and sustained relationships with each youth. For every youth, a Friend will set positive expectations; nurture and promote each youth’s strength, talents, and abilities; help ensure physical and emotional well-being; teach life and academic skills; provide enrichment activities; and model responsible behavior.

A Friend will fully document all youth service efforts and participate in an ongoing reflection, observation, and evaluation process. Friends work directly with each of their youth in both one-on-one and in group settings, and work indirectly collaborating with the other adults in the youth’s life and intentionally planning, culminating in about four hours each week per youth

A Friend must know, understand, honor, and support the organization’s mission, vision, values, and principles, and be able to clearly articulate the organization’s function.

CORE JOB ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Develop and sustain a long-term, caring, trusting and accepting relationship with each youth
• Spend time with each youth; one-on-one, in the classroom, and in group activities
• Collaboratively develop, maintain and follow a Roadmap Goal Plan or Transition Plan for each youth
• Set realistic expectations and goals based on each youth’s strengths, talents, abilities and needs
• Teach and model life skills and healthy habits to contribute both to basic development and learning, and to contribute to building positive self-esteem
• Develop a talent/skill/area of interest with each youth to help develop positive self-esteem and experience growing confidence
• Provide enrichment resources and activities which include opportunities for cultural awareness, diversity and community service
• Contribute to youth acquiring behavioral management skills, tolerance, respect for others, courtesy and compassion
• Develop positive relationships with families, teachers and others involved in each youth’s life
• Reinforce basic academic skills and learning
• Model and promote good problem-solving and decision-making skills
• Participate in the programming and resources available through the organization, effectively utilizing program resources to meet the needs of each youth
• Maintain spending within budgetary guidelines
• Complete, distribute and collect time summaries, activity journals, short-term plans, expense reports and evaluation materials accurately and in a timely manner
• Attend and actively participate in supervision, team meetings, training and staff functions
• Provide information and support to Development team and related activities as needed
• Fulfill other responsibilities as required

ESSENTIAL SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Ability to relate to youth and to develop and sustain trusting, supportive relationships with them
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Demonstrated ability to work with youth in varied capacities and settings to help them learn and grow
• Ability to cultivate trusting relationships with caregivers, teachers and community members
• Ability to develop working knowledge of community, systems and resources of the Portland, Gresham, and SW Washington area
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and communicate appropriately within the workplace
• Ability to use creativity and initiative in planning activities to continually develop youth
• Ability to work independently in diverse environments with limited supervision
• Ability to work as a team player
• Ability to manage several concurrent issues and solve problems effectively exercising appropriate discretion and judgment
• Ability to set goals and develop plans to meet those goals to ensure the development of each youth
• Ability to complete administrative tasks accurately and on time
• Ability to be physically mobile and meet vehicle driving demands safely while exercising good judgment
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; organizational and time management skills
• Basic computer and keyboarding skills, proficiency with e-mail systems, familiarity with MS Office Programs including TEAMS and Efforts to Outcomes database(or other youth database applications)
• Ability to exercise good judgment independently, in various situations and environments, and under varying levels of stress
• Continuous demonstration of a growth mindset and willingness to learn from others
• Demonstrated commitment to equity

HOW TO APPLY

Please apply through this posting in HiringThing. Thank you for your interest.

SALARY

Starting at $37,000 salary a year.

BENEFITS

Comprehensive

PROFESSIONAL LEVEL:

Professional

MINIMUM EDUCATION REQUIRED:

Associates degree or three years of direct experience in lieu of degree; Bachelor’s degree preferred, plus a minimum of one year of experience working/volunteering with youth. Mentoring experience with youth from high risk environments preferred. Bilingual/bi-cultural candidates strongly preferred. Candidates with strong knowledge of systems that our youth encounter preferred.

ADDITIONAL JOB REQUIREMENTS:

• Maintain current driver’s license, good driving record, and vehicle insurance
• Maintain First Aid/CPR certification
• Transport youth in personal vehicle as required for mentoring activities (we reimburse for mileage)
• Must pass a pre-employment drug screen and background check

LOCATION: This position is based in Southwest Washington. 

WORKING HOURS:

This is a full-time, exempt position. Work hours vary but are generally 10:00am – 7:00pm, Tuesday – Saturday; flexibility is essential. Due to the nature of a Friend’s role, the work hours are somewhat nontraditional and include late afternoon and evening work. We recognize that each Friend’s daily work schedule will vary due to the uniqueness of the role and the needs of the individual youth being served. Each Friend is expected to consult with their supervisor and exercise appropriate discretion in this regard. During the school year, the general work week is Tuesday through Saturday, with Sunday and Monday as days off. During the summer, and for spring and winter breaks, many Friends work a standard Monday through Friday work week. The Program requires that you provide direct and indirect service to each of your assigned youth, both in and outside of school, for an average of four hours each week, although how you accomplish that is at your discretion within established Program guidelines.

COMPENSATION:

Starting annual salary is $37,000 base pay (depending on experience) plus a generous comprehensive benefits package for all our employees.

Friends of the Children is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to addressing discriminatory practices, and to working toward racial equity. The equal employment opportunity policy of Friends of the Children provides fair and equal opportunities for all employees and job applicants regardless of race, color, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, age, sex, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, sexual orientation, marital status, familial status, disability, or genetic information, in compliance with applicable federal, state and local law. Friends of the Children hires and promotes individuals solely on their qualifications for the job to be filled.

Friends of the Children is growing rapidly as communities across the country are experiencing the power of how “One” changes a child's story: One Friend. One Child. 12 ½ years. No matter what. #ThePowerOfOne

To learn more about Friends of the Children go to:  https://friendspdx.org/