Scholarships
Everyone is welcome at Friendly House!
We truly believe that community is for everyone. That’s why we provide scholarship assistance and sliding-scale fees for all of our programs and services, removing barriers for folks that would otherwise be unable to participate. At Friendly House, your value is not connected to your income. Come join us! We offer scholarships for After School, Summer Camp and Preschool students.
The Rebecca Longaker Scholarship Fund
Since 2007, the Rebecca Longaker Scholarship Fund has raised more than $650,000 to provide hundreds of children with access to safe, affordable, and enriching After School and Summer Camp programming.
Rebecca Hall Longaker was the daughter of Barbara and Jud Longaker and a student at Chapman Elementary. When Rebecca died at age 10 from a misdiagnosed heart ailment, her parents started the Rebecca Longaker Scholarship Fund in memory of her generous and kind spirit.
Today, Rebecca’s fund ensures that children from houseless families and families at risk of houselessness receive the support and care they need to thrive. Children attending on scholarship receive healthy snacks, food assistance, extra homework help, new shoes and coats in the winter, and extracurricular opportunities like art, recreational sports, and hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) experience.
The Rebecca Longaker Scholarship Fund
Since 2007, the Rebecca Longaker Scholarship Fund has raised more than $650,000 to provide hundreds of children with access to safe, affordable, and enriching After School and Summer Camp programming.
Rebecca Hall Longaker was the daughter of Barbara and Jud Longaker and a student at Chapman Elementary. When Rebecca died at age 10 from a misdiagnosed heart ailment, her parents started the Rebecca Longaker Scholarship Fund in memory of her generous and kind spirit.
Today, Rebecca’s fund ensures that children from houseless families and families at risk of houselessness receive the support and care they need to thrive. Children attending on scholarship receive healthy snacks, food assistance, extra homework help, new shoes and coats in the winter, and extracurricular opportunities like art, recreational sports, and hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) experience.
Hear from one of the families that the Rebecca Longaker Scholarship Fund has helped to thrive in our community.
Finances are extremely tight, and I have to use private loans to help cover living expenses and child care costs. If it were not for the scholarship, I wouldn’t be able to manage to afford the aftercare, which is absolutely essential while I’m in school. Thank you so much for the work you do on behalf of the families who need financial support!
Logan Nettleton Scholarship Fund
In August 2019, Logan Nettleton’s promising life was cut short at age 19 by gun violence. Logan was a second-generation graduate of Friendly House Preschool, and a student at Portland State University. She was a fearless proponent of social justice, and we believe Logan’s Fund for Friendly House Preschool scholarships reflects her values of inclusion, equity, and the importance of communities coming together to support each other.
Preschool can be an overwhelming expense for many families, which is why we offer our programs on a sliding fee scale, with full and partial scholarships available to qualifying families.
The supportive and enriching experiences that Friendly House Preschool provides our students sets them on a path of nurtured growth and fulfillment, and we operate under the belief that every child deserves the chance to blossom and succeed.
Scholarships are available to eligible families* through funding from Oregon Department of Education’s PreKindergarten Program and our generous donors.
This is what scholarships mean to Friendly House Preschool families:
Our scholarship has been monumental in allowing us to provide a steady and consistent learning environment for our foster daughter. Being new to our role within the system, we were lucky to have discovered Friendly House. Its accessibility met our needs, and the curriculum met hers. Beyond the learning, the friendships with peers and adult role modeling from her teachers show an increasingly positive effect on her.
Support our scholarships!
Our scholarships are funded through grants, government funding, and the generosity of community members like you. Please consider investing in the future of our students by making a donation to our scholarship funds today.
*Is a scholarship right for you?
We review each scholarship application on a case-by-case basis, with consideration for special circumstances, and we encourage you to apply if you feel that a scholarship would provide the assistance your family needs to thrive. See below for the criteria we use to evaluate each application.
- If your household is houseless (living on the street or in a car, shelter, transitional housing, or doubled-up), they are eligible for a scholarship.
- If your household is at risk of houselessness as defined below, they are eligible for a scholarship:
- Your household total income is from SNAP, SSI, SSD and/or student loans
- Your household income is below 60% of Portland, Oregon’s Area Median Income (AMI)
- Household income is less than 80% of AMI, but you pay 30% or more of your income on rent and utilities combined
- Your household income is below 100% of AMI, and it includes dependents with documented mental, physical and/or developmental disabilities
- Other extraordinary circumstances will be evaluated on a case by case basis and approved by Friendly House’s executive director
How to Apply for a Scholarship
Scholarship applications are available for qualifying families. To apply, email scholarships@fhpdx.org and request the scholarship application materials.