Welcome

Established 1973

Last year Best Friends of Neenah-Menasha celebrated forty years of helping children and families in our community.  Our organization was founded by a group of women who truly understood the meaning of mentoring. They believed that friendship was one of life's most precious gifts…an experience each of us needed as much as food and drink.

Today, we continue that tradition.  Through one-to-one friendships we are able to strengthen families, empower youth, and promote academic excellence.

• Strengthening Families: We help strengthen our families to prevent child abuse and neglect through parent resilience, new social connections, and concrete supports in time of need.
• Empowering Youth: Working one-to-one with a child or teen increases their developmental assets and lowers risky behavior that leads to juvenile crime and victimization.
• Academic Excellence: Upon entering 6th grade, a dedicated staff member works with each student to remove barriers to learning and help them navigate the road to graduation and higher education.

Join me as we not only celebrate our history this year, but as we celebrate our next 40 years!

Dawn M. Gohlke, Executive Director