Our story
The Friend Foundation was founded in 2016 on a simple belief: one friend can change the trajectory of a life.
My husband and I originally launched the organization to address bullying among middle school students. Rather than focusing only on bullies or victims, we wanted to teach young people the power of being an upstander—someone who steps forward to support another person when it would be easier to remain a bystander.
As our work grew, so did our understanding of what people need to thrive. Through years of serving families experiencing homelessness, poverty, housing instability, and educational disruption, we discovered that lasting change is rarely created through a single program or service. Lasting change happens through consistent relationships built over time.
That realization continues to guide everything we do today.
Whether helping families achieve housing stability, supporting students through Friendship Academy, or connecting individuals to community resources, we remain committed to the same principle that inspired our name nearly a decade ago: meaningful change begins with relationship.
— Bethany Torino, Co-Founder
Who we serve
We serve children and families experiencing chronic instability, including homelessness, housing insecurity, poverty, family disruption, and other barriers that interfere with educational success and family well-being.
Many of the children we serve are bright, capable, and full of potential. Their challenge is not ability—it is instability. We provide the relationships, belonging, support, and opportunities that help families move from crisis toward stability and give children the foundation they need to learn, grow, and thrive.
What an UpStander is
An UpStander is anyone who chooses to be present for another person — consistently, honestly, on equal footing. They aren't volunteers logging hours. They aren't case workers managing outcomes. They're neighbors who keep showing up.
The word matters. UpStander isn't bystander, and it isn't savior. It's a posture: standing alongside, not above. Helping somebody up, by standing up with them.
The science of friendship
Our work is grounded in the growing body of research on social connection and health. The evidence is now clear enough that public health agencies — including the U.S. Surgeon General — name social isolation as a major contributor to mortality, comparable to smoking or obesity.
We also draw on peer-reviewed work in Frontiers in Psychology on the protective effects of close relationships against depression, and in Innovation in Aging on social connection as a determinant of long-term wellbeing. These aren't decorations. They shape how our programs are designed — which is why our HUDDLEs meet weekly, why our Circles use small groups, and why every UpStander completes the Friendship Academy before being matched.
Leadership
Dr. Jim Torino
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Jim Torino co-founded The Friend Foundation in 2016 and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. With an entrepreneurial spirit, he is an accomplished operations executive with a robust background in starting, developing, and leading high-growth organizations. In addition to other initiatives, he has spent over a decade in leading healthcare operations for companies in the wellness and disease management space. With a Ph.D. in Social Psychology and dual master’s degrees in business administration and management information systems, Dr. Torino is well-versed in behavioral economics and behavioral health, blending these unique skills with his extensive business knowledge to drive operational success. Today, he is dedicated to giving back to his community and helping people one human at a time.
Bethany Torino
Co-Founder & Board Chair · Director, Friendship Academy
Bethany Torino is the Co-Founder and Board Chair of The Friend Foundation and the Director of Friendship Academy, a relationship-centered educational program serving children and families experiencing chronic instability. A lifelong entrepreneur, Bethany successfully launched and managed several businesses, including The Cocoa Tree, which she owned and operated for nearly twenty years.
For the past six years, Bethany has worked directly with families experiencing homelessness, housing instability, poverty, and educational disruption throughout Middle Tennessee. Through this work, she developed a deep understanding of the barriers families face as they navigate fragmented systems of support and became a leading advocate for improved coordination, accountability, and outcomes within the homelessness response system.
Her advocacy efforts contributed to the passage of significant Tennessee legislation in 2025 that increased oversight and accountability within the state’s homelessness response framework and led to a statewide study examining opportunities for system improvement. Bethany is particularly focused on developing community-based solutions that strengthen family stability, improve educational outcomes, and create more effective pathways out of crisis.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and is currently pursuing a Master of Social Work with a concentration in Organizational Leadership. Bethany brings together lived experience, entrepreneurial leadership, and systems-level advocacy to advance innovative approaches that help children and families move from instability toward belonging, opportunity, and long-term success.
Partners
We work alongside Room in the Inn and a network of local faith communities, clinics, and academic researchers studying social connection. We don't replace the work of these partners — we add the relational layer that often goes missing once a more acute need has been addressed.