Friends of the Children Detroit bridges the gap by joining mentors with at-risk youth Nicole McKinney is the first executive director of a new program called Friends of the Children Detroit. Posted at 4:12 PM, Apr 22, 2021 and last updated 2021-04-22 19:30:11-04 DETROIT (WXYZ) â Nicole McKinney is the first executive director of a new program called Friends of the Children Detroit, which pairs paid mentors with some of our most at-risk youth for years of support, helping them to build trust and inner strength to help them become their best selves. "Research shows that a child who has a consistent caring adult in their lives has a better outcome for life, and so we start with children from 4 to 6 years old and we mentor them from when they graduate from high school," Mckinney said.