Taylor’s Story

Taylor was a child without a place to really call home. At a young age, she was adopted. But later, when two more adopted children joined the family, Taylor’s adoptive mother became more and more distant.

Taylor struggled with her feelings of rejection and being unwanted by her parents and her adoptive parents. Discouraged, angry and bitter, she began acting out as a way to deal with her emotions and to get attention. Taylor didn’t think anyone cared about her, and she’d given up hope that anyone ever would.

When Taylor came to Boys Town, she first required the most intensive and restrictive level of care on our Integrated Continuum — the Intensive Residential Treatment Center, a secure facility with 24-hour monitoring. As she made progress, Taylor was able to step down to a more independent Boys Town program that featured a family-style living arrangement. It was about this time that Taylor made the decision that it was time to put her past behind her and move forward. Taylor began to work with her Family-Teachers and accept their help. Soon, she was able to move to our less-restrictive Treatment Family Home program, where, as part of a Boys Town family, she continued to learn skills and improve.

Now, Taylor is an excellent student and a vibrant member of the Boys Town community. She’s busy with extracurricular activities, and serves as a Boys Town Ambassador, one of a select group of students who represent Boys Town at public events.

Taylor also is about to fulfill her dream of attending college at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. She knew the only way this would happen was to earn a college scholarship – and that meant hard work and dedication to academics. A student with a 4.0 grade point average for most of her semesters at Boys Town and a member of Advanced Placement classes, Taylor applied what she learned about self-discipline and focus to earn not one, but two scholarships to Creighton. Now she is looking forward to one day being involved in the medical field.

This article appeared in the Summer 2010 Boys Town National Journal. Download your copy today.

The stories provided about the children and families in our care are real. In some cases, names my be changed and details altered to protect their privacy and therapeutic interests.