Success Stories

Josh: When we were little, we lived in the projects in South Omaha and it was just me, my sister, my older brother and my mom. She would leave for weeks at a time. We ran out of food one day, and me and my sister, we walked up to this gas station late at night. We just started eating the food because we didn't know any better. We were just hungry and we were just little kids. Then that's when the gas station people, they called the cops and they called CPS because they couldn't find our parents. Then they found, they searched the house and there was drug paraphernalia so then they took us out immediately.

Kathleen: Actually he was a very easy kid to get along right from the beginning. He was a very likable, very respectful kid. He's the star quarterback of the football team. He's just got that personality that everybody likes him and he was very easy to get along with.

Josh: Football was just so much fun. They gave me a chance. Coach Kirk [SP] said, "I'm not guaranteeing you a starting spot but you can come practice with us in the mornings. We can get you throwing the ball a little bit." One of the kids left that was supposed to be starting. From there, I just took over the starting spot and had a blast every game. Probably made some of the best friends. To this day I still talk to them. Real good guys.

Brian: Where Josh really excelled while he was here was he learned very early on. He has all these resources available to him through Boys Town. He was just taking advantage of the opportunities available to him. We still have pictures of Josh in the house because he was a good influence with the boys while he was here. He's a good influence with the boys when he comes back.

Josh: One of the reasons why I like to go back is because you go back and you just, as soon as you drive in you see the, "He's not heavy, he's my brother," and stuff, you just feel that love as soon as you drive into the gates. Then you go and you see the Family-Teachers, you go talk to the coaches and then the teachers and they just, everyone always asks, first thing, "How are you doing? What are you grades like?" It just makes you feel like people care about you. I didn't get that a lot when I was younger.

I feel like Boys Town has changed me a lot. Boys Town, it's honestly just helped me so much. I can't tell them, "Thank you," enough. I'm glad I got to go there. If you let it change you, Boys Town can do amazing things for kids.