March 24, 2026
Built Together
How a Growing Partnership is Strengthening Support for Native Youth
Sometimes the most meaningful impact for a child begins with the adults who choose to work together.
Over the past months, our relationship with Spokane Public Schools' Native Education team has grown into something more than a referral partnership. It has become a genuine collaboration, rooted in a shared commitment to Native youth and their families.
When Friends of the Children launched this chapter, the Native Education staff showed up with generosity. They helped identify the young people who would benefit most from our program, reached out to schools and families, and brought cultural knowledge and leadership that no program could replicate on its own. They built bridges of trust that can take years to form.
What has grown from that early investment is something living and ongoing.
Today, our teams meet regularly, not because we have to, but because we know it makes a difference. We talk through challenges together, brainstorm solutions when a family is struggling, and celebrate when a young person has a good day. Sometimes that looks like a quick check-in. Sometimes it's as simple and joyful as sharing a photo from Native Club.
Children notice the adults around them. Through this partnership, Native youth are seeing something meaningful: adults from different corners of their community choosing to work together for their good.
Every time we come together, we are building something larger than either of us could build alone. A community of care. A network of belonging. A message, clear and consistent, that these children are seen, supported, and worth every bit of the effort.