News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Duncan Campbell has a story to tell.
As the founder of the mentor programs Friends of the Children and Sisters' Circle of Friends, he has seen the power that a caring mentorship relationship has to change lives of children for the better.
Campbell is sharing the stories of this power in his new book, "The Art of Being There: Creating Change, One Child At A Time," written with Craig Borlase.
Campbell told The Nugget that the book is a tool for expanding the reach of the program, which currently operates in Portland, Harlem, NY, and several other cities.
"Friends is about 20 years old now," he said. "We're ready to move to the next level. We want to be in at least 25 major cities, if not more."
Campbell knows the program works - he tested its validity before launching it and over the past two decades has seen first-hand the impact an engaged mentor has in young people's lives. And that is the story the book tells.
"The core of the book is the stories of the youth that we serve and their successes," he said. "The book is meant for anybody who wants to be touched and read powerful stories of children."
It is hoped that those stories will help recruit more Friends, more funders, and expand the program's capacity to help children.
"This is an arrow in our quiver," Campbell said.
Friends is developing a $25 million expansion fund to move into five new cities and to deepen its work in communities where it already operates.
"The Friends are great, amazing people," he said. "It's a calling."
Campbell notes that social workers tend to burn out quickly - within a couple of years.
"The Friends, on average," stay seven or eight years," he said.
Some have been engaged for 20 years.
"It's because it's real, it's fulfilling," he said.
Friends of the Children has very low overhead. Most of its funds pay for Friends' time. In Sisters, Circle of Friends operates on a volunteer model, due to the scale of the community. Campbell notes that more Friends are always needed.
"Even in Sisters, we have children waiting for mentors," he said.
To learn more about Sisters' Circle of Friends, visit http://acircleoffriendsoregon.com/mentor. For more information about Friends of the Children, visit http://friendspdx.org.
"The Art of Being There: Creating Change, One Child At A Time," is available locally at Paulina Springs Books in Sisters.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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