May is Mental Health Awareness Month. In rural northeastern Oregon, mental health support doesn't always start in a waiting room. Sometimes it starts with a paid, professional mentor (a Friend) who has figured out what makes one quiet kid feel safe. Lindsey, one of our Friends in Union County, wrote this about a girl she works with. Ember's name has been changed for privacy.

Families in Union County who need mental health support run into the same things families in a lot of rural places run into. Long drives. Waitlists. Not enough providers.

Friends of the Children was built for that reality. Our Friends spend three to four hours every week with each child at home, at school, and around town. Support shows up in the ordinary parts of a kid's week instead of only in an appointment.

Across the Friends of the Children network, 96% of youth make progress on social and emotional development, things like asking a caring adult for help and practicing healthy ways to handle stress. That's what the model produces over time. Here is what it looks like week to week in La Grande.

A note from Lindsey

Ember notices things most people walk right past. Bugs. Rocks. Crystals. Earthworms. The small details in the dirt that everybody else steps over.

She's quiet. She observes more than she speaks. When people ask her how she's doing, she often shuts down. Not because she doesn't understand, but because it feels like too much, too fast.

One afternoon we went to a local rock shop. Ember walked the aisles slowly, picking out stones, telling me what each one reminded her of and who she wanted to give it to. She spoke confidently. She asked questions. She connected, because she felt safe and because she was interested. That same child, minutes later in a different setting, might not say a word.

So we adjust.

We practice words ahead of time. We model simple phrases. Then we go out into the community, into new spaces, without pressure. If she doesn't speak, that's okay. If she does, we celebrate it quietly. Ember grows best when she knows she won't be pushed past what she's ready for.

And she is growing.

She's having more social interaction outside of school. She's finding ways to connect through shared interests instead of forced conversation. She's learning that her curiosity isn't something to hide. It's a strength.

We don't ask kids to change who they are to succeed. We build support around who they already are.

Ember doesn't need to be louder to be confident. She just needs adults who notice what makes her feel safe, and who give her time to grow.

And she is.

— Lindsey, Friend

Lindsey will be in Ember's corner for the next 12+ years. Kindergarten through graduation, no matter what happens along the way. Every child in our Union County cohort gets that same promise, and that consistency is the whole model.

If you want more kids in La Grande, Imbler, and Union to have a Friend like that, you can help build it.