Friends of the Children (FOTC) San Francisco Chapter

SF Harvard Alumnae and Alumni,

Recently I had the pleasure to meet one of the FOTC
Board members Louise Renne. She is also head of the
SF Police Commission. Consider supporting her
organization.

Extracted from Nov. 29th, 2004 correspondence with
FOTC Executive Director, Charlotte E. Burchard:

"Friends of the Children is a national organization
founded in 1993 to improve the lives of high-risk
children. The program is based in extensive research
indicating that a long-term, sustained relationship
with a supportive, caring adult is the single most
effective protective factor for high-risk children.
It is the only program in the nation that provides
carefully screened, full-time professional paid
mentors (called Friends) to high-risk youth for twelve
years from first grade through high school. Each
mentor works with no more than eight children of the
same gender.

The San Francisco chapter, which opened in 2001,
serves thirty-two children recruited from the E.R.
Taylor and Malcolm X Academy elementary schools in San
Francisco's Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood. FOTC
selects children who are most in danger of school
failure, abuse, neglect, delinquency, gang and drug
involvement, and teenage pregnancy. The outlook for
many of the neighborhood's children is not good. The
most high-risk children come from low-income families
with histories of violence, abuse, neglect, poverty,
homelessness, substance abuse, and criminal activity.
These children are heading for academic failure.

The steady presence of a Friend in the children's
lives helps them develop the emotional security and
positive behaviors that are essential to school
success. Each child spends a minimum of four hours
per week one-on-one with his or her mentor, usually
after school, on the weekend, and during the summer.
Mentors spend time in the classrooms, providing
academic support and keeping children on task and
focused. Friends supervise homework and check with
teachers either daily or weekly, depending on how much
support and supervision each child needs, to see that
homework is completed.

Friends of the Children has specific outcomes for
children related to social and emotional development,
school success, making good choices, improved health
care, and positive plans and skills for the future.

FOTC SF is a nonprofit organization. [....] The
mailing address is P.O. Box 24472, San Francisco,
California 94124."

Charlotte E. Burchard's e-mail address is
ceburchard@aol.com if you would like to find out more.

Perry Gregg
VP Communications, Board of Directors
Harvard Club of San Francisco
Nob Hill
800 Powell Street
San Francisco, California 94108

bengt@post.harvard.edu
harvard-sf-owner@yahoogroups.com