Storybooks, shelves with boxes of crayons, games, tubs of toys, and big tables tell visitors that Friends of the Children in Polson is a place kids inhabit.  

Sixteen children, 4-to-7 years old, call this facility their clubhouse. “We want the kids to feel this is their space,” said Nicole Callahan, director of the Polson branch. 

Friends of the Children has been in existence close to 30 years with chapters across the United States. Montana has two chapters: Western Montana Chapter in Missoula, of which the Flathead Nation FOTC is an offshoot, and an Eastern Montana Chapter in Billings. 

The Western Montana chapter is in its third year, and the Flathead branch opened in April of 2023, and is located at the corner of Main Street and Sixth Ave. E. 

The goal is to “walk beside the children and their families until they graduate from high school or obtain their GED, no matter what,” Callahan explained. “A huge part of our work with children is with their parents or caregivers.” 

Families come in many shapes – grandparents, aunties, caregivers, foster parents – and FOTC supports each of them. 

“FOTC is a two-generation model,” Callahan said. “We wrap around that whole family, which nicely aligns with tribal values of kinship and community.” 

FFOC also provides transportation to kids, according to Callahan.

“It’s just a way we can support families,” she said. “We pick up kids at daycare, at the Boys and Girls Club, from school.”

Most recently, they’ve been driving children back and forth from Culture Camps.

Eight girls and eight boys were selected to participate this year. The male mentor, or “friend” as FOTC calls them, works with the boys and the female mentor is assigned to the girls.

The friends spend four hours each week with youngsters. Two hours are spent in the school setting, at lunch, recess, in the classroom, “wherever we are needed,” Callahan explained, and the other two hours are spent at the clubhouse or out in the community, such as at the Ksanka or the Salish Culture Camps or at a picnic in the park.

To winnow out the children who would get the most from FOTC’s program, Callahan formed partnerships with the Polson and Ronan school districts as well as with Michelle Mitchell who heads up Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Education, Early Childhood Services, and Social Services. She asked the schools and the tribal departments to refer 15 children each that they felt could most benefit from FOTC.

Then for six weeks, she went to the schools and Head Start, visited classrooms, got to know the children, talked with the counselors and administrators, and formed a holistic snapshot of each child.   

After the child is enrolled, goals are set – be they academic, behavioral, social, or a mix. Since FOTC staff are constantly evaluating and measuring, a new plan is set up each year, adapted and adjusted. 

It’s a voluntary, no-cost program, and it cannot be court-mandated, Callahan said. Only tribal children are enrolled in this culturally specific program. 

FOTC does not use blood quantum when enrolling a child; instead, the criteria is if a child identifies with a tribe. The friends are tribal too, as is Callahan.

Culture is regarded as a protective factor and FOTC provides cultural opportunities for the entire family. An all-tribal committee shares what’s available to kids, such as language, powwows, culture camps and storytelling.

“If our kids are connected and rooted in their tribes, their customs and beliefs, they’ll be unstoppable as adults,” Callahan said.

    Friends of the Children opened their office in Polson last April and have been working in the community since then. (Berl Tiskus/Leader)