Wellington Management Foundation Gives $300,000 Catalyst Gift to Fuel Friends–Boston Expansion

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friends of the Children–Boston Expands

The expansion will allow the organization to provide 30 percent more children with long-term, paid professional mentors.

BOSTON, M.A. – Friends of the Children–Boston (Friends–Boston), whose successful model of providing the most vulnerable children with long-term, salaried, professional mentors from kindergarten through high school graduation, is thrilled to announce that they were awarded a $300,000 Catalyst Gift from the Wellington Management Foundation to execute its plans to grow and deepen its impact in Boston over the next three years.

The expansion: Building upon the strong track record and exceptional results from the last 14 years, Friends–Boston recently completed a three-year strategic planning process focusing on growing and deepening its impact on youth who are considered to be the highest priority in our city. At the core of their Strategic Plan is a commitment to increase the total number of Achievers served by an additional 30 percent by 2021.

Based on analysis, for every kindergartener selected by Friends–Boston to be matched with a Friend, they estimate that there are between eight to twelve eligible students whom they are not serving. The planned growth/expansion will support their efforts to meet this demand for high-quality, long-term and professional mentoring services for youth facing the most difficult challenges.

The Expansion Plan not only includes serving more children, but it also takes into account a review and enhancement of onboarding practices and the mandatory increases in organizational capacity and infrastructure, including expanding into more schools that are based on their planned growth.

“This funding further solidifies our commitment to our community and our growth vision for the next three years,” said Friends of the Children–Boston's Executive Director Yi-Chin Chen. “We see the dramatic effect we are making in our children’s lives and the ripple effect in the community where they live and go to school. We are eager to work with more children, and this gift will have a catalytic effect on our ability to create generational change in our community.”

Friends–Boston’s first expansion phase will also include expansion into two to three new schools in the next three years, increasing the number of youth served by 30 percent. Friends–Boston will also be able to hire more long-term, salaried, professional mentors, who they call Friends, and build organizational capacity for larger-scale growth over the next three years. Friends–Boston will also continue building partnerships that will improve the quality of life for the youth they serve.

“We see a dramatic difference in the students who are in the Friends of the Children–Boston program,” said Higginson Pre-K-2's School Principal Marie Mullen. “They often have a lot going on in their home lives. Their Friends help them to be able to focus on school and navigate often very tough life circumstances.”

CONTACT
Stacy DellOrfano, Director of Development
stacy@friendsboston.org
617.983.3682

About The Wellington Management Foundation

Rooted in our culture Wellington Management Foundation was founded in 1992 as the Wellington Management Company Charitable Fund. Since its inception, the Foundation has been closely aligned with Wellington Management through our shared culture and values. The Foundation relies on Wellington Management employees who volunteer their time and talent through service on the Foundation's Advisory Board, Nonprofit Relationship Teams and the Grant Recommendation Committee, which conducts a thorough review of each organization we fund. Through the combined generosity of the firm and these individuals, the Foundation is able to direct 100 percent of donations to organizations that meet the Fund's educational mission. For more information, visit wellingtonfoundation.org.