Success Stories
Better Days Ahead:
Nick's Story
As a teen, Nick struggled with severe anxiety, which affected how he interacted with friends and family. He came to Boys Town at 17 and quickly began to heal with the support and love he received during his stay. Nick went on to graduate college and start a career in human services while also volunteering as a high school wrestling coach on the side. His goal is to return to Boys Town to use the tools he learned there to show other troubled youth that there can be better days ahead.
Watch Nick's Story
Nick: living with anxiety, it feels like you're trapped at times. It feels like you're...sorry…living with anxiety is...This is hard, I'm sorry.
Nick: Before Boys Town, I was really angry at the world, I had a lot of self-pity and I got worked up with the little things and kind of took that out on my folks as well as my brothers and sisters.
Nick: I was just embraced with an overwhelming feeling of just being welcomed into a new home and a lot of like, love, just right away.
Father Steven Boes: I think he immediately bought into the model, he felt the love and the care. His family didn't abandon him, they were at the house every weekend, they went to football games. So he felt like people were really giving him the help that he needed.
Nicholas: I believe Boys Town works because of the people that work here. They were always willing to keep me focused and when I did wrong, they redirected me into finding better options. And they helped me with just finding a desire to be a better person.
Father Steven Boes: For other parents who are struggling with someone in their family that has a mental illness or a mental health need or behavioral problem, or an addiction, something is going on and it just ain't working, don't imprison them in their worst day. It's so easy to judge somebody by their worst day. You have to let that go a little bit, you have to realize that there's a possibility of another day. And if you can imagine that, then you can begin to see why you need to give them more help. There's a better day, there's a version of Nick that isn't yelling and screaming at his sister and threatening people. There's a Nick that graduates from college and gets married and has a great life.
Nick: My dream job is to someday come back and work at Boys Town. Because of the experiences I had here, the people I met, because of the opportunities that were given to me. Boys Town is a place where I found renewed hope. Boys Town is a place where I come back to and I always have someone to talk to or something to lean on. Boys Town in a sense just helped me pursue my dreams and it's helping me become a better person day in and day out.
