GRESHAM, Ore. — After 20 years of operation, a Gresham-based nonprofit is shutting down in January. Family of Friends Mentoring matched disadvantaged kids with mentors across eastern Multnomah County.
"There are people in need in the community that need a helping hand," Debra Vanderwerf, the executive director of Family of Friends Mentoring, said.
Over the past 20 years, the nonprofit has matched around 400 kids with mentors. They’re shutting down due to a lack of funding.
“In the nonprofit sector, we all vie for funds from the very small, competitive funding pool,” Vanderwerf said. “And it just became very difficult to sustain ongoing operations.”
For decades, mentors took their mentees on trips and to restaurants. They also helped with homework in weekly meetings.
Many of the kids have dealt with adversity at a young age. Some live in a single-parent household; others have a parent who is incarcerated. For years, the nonprofit provided stability and opportunities to children.
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"I was saddened for all the future mentors and mentees that wouldn't be matched together," Melanii Lambert, a mentor, said.
Lambert has been a mentor with the program for two-and-a-half years. Her mentee, Ember, is a 12-year-old. The two have gone snowboarding, to restaurants and to get their nails done.
"She made a little book out of all of the things that she wanted to do,” Lambert said of Ember. “And we're working our way through them."
Lambert is a Portland native who raised her own children as a single mother. Now that she had the ability, she wanted to give back to other families in need.
Already, in just a couple of years, she’s noticed a change in Ember, from a shy 10 year old to a bubbly, confident pre-teen.
"It's amazing; she almost looks like a totally different child," Lambert said.
Despite the nonprofit shutting down, many mentors like Lambert plan to continue meeting with their mentee.
"We're in it for the long haul," Lambert said.