Our History
Boys Town of Yesterday
In 1917, a young, immigrant priest from Ireland had grown discouraged in his work with transient, homeless men in Omaha, Nebraska. So in December of that year, Father Edward J. Flanagan borrowed $90 from a friend to pay the rent on a drafty, downtown Victorian boardinghouse that became his first home for boys. Father Flanagan’s Home for Boys welcomed all boys, regardless of their race or religion, and youngsters from all over Omaha and beyond began showing up at the doorstep.
Father Flanagan and his boys faced hard times. World War I was raging in Europe, and food and money were in short supply. There was no shortage of boys, however, and by spring, one hundred needy, delinquent or orphaned boys were living at the Home.
Boys Town Today
In July 2005, Father Steven E. Boes was appointed as Boys Town’s fifth and current Executive Director. Under Father Boes’ leadership, Boys Town has focused on implementing its unique Integrated Continuum of Care. Boys Town has developed a strategic plan around the Continuum with a goal of doubling the number of children and family we serve by 2012. Father Boes also is expanding Boys Town’s role in advocating change in the current child‑care system, which often offers fragmented and ineffective treatment.
Nonsectarian since its founding, Boys Town is one of the largest, publicly funded nonprofit child‑care agencies in the country, providing compassionate treatment for the behavioral, emotional and physical problems of children and families. In 2009, Boys Town served nearly 370,000 children and adults across the United States, Canada and the U.S. Territories and in several foreign countries.