Building Community One Friend At A Time Since 1930

Friendly House is a community center and social service agency that has been serving Portland
for over 94 years. They create a thriving community by connecting people of all ages and
backgrounds through quality educational, recreational, and other life-sustaining services. The
primary goal of Friendly House is to continue to serve their community with essential services
that are responsive to priority needs, such as affordable childcare, early childhood education,
and one-on-one case management service for older adults.

Friendly House currently operates one preschool classroom for 20 children per day.
Demand is high and Friendly House was unable to accommodate families on the waitlist. The
greatest obstacle was lack of space. As a result, Friendly House is renovating its 120-year-old
Brentano Building, which was donated, into a purpose-built, best-practice childcare center. The
new Friendly House children’s program center will house three pre-school classrooms and two
afterschool classrooms serving families with economic need in the underserved Northwest area
of Portland.

When the project is complete, there will be a minimum of 60 preschool spots (40 new
openings) and 115 after school program openings. In order to work full days, families urgently
need access to affordable and safe preschool and after school care. All programs will be
affordable for families regardless of means. Thanks to partnership with Multnomah County’s
Preschool for All, the preschool program will be free for families with economic need. Unlike
the current facility, the planned Brentano Building renovation will be purpose-built. The needs
of the most vulnerable children will be reflected in the design. From well-insulated classrooms
to ample room for climbing, crawling, imagining, building, constructing and deconstructing,
napping, reading, learning and building social emotional skills.

Financial support from the JTMF Foundation is allowing Friendly House to expand services to
include even more children and families.

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