Success Stories
Teaching Love
Can you imagine not knowing how to give or receive a simple hug?
The kids that come to Boys Town don’t have to imagine it. Neglect and abuse are common for our kids. They come from backgrounds filled with poverty, substance abuse and mental health problems. Often the adults who were supposed to care for and guide them are absent, or worse yet, hostile.
That’s why Boys Town has adopted the idea of Teach Love. We get to work on day one showing these kids that life is different here at Boys Town.
When we set about trying to Teach Love, it is often a foreign concept to these kids. But we start slowly with all the building blocks of love ... respect, caring, loyalty, expectations and love for your fellow human beings. Eventually, even the toughest kids want to experience the love of a family and that’s what we are. One big family that’s here for all these neglected and forgotten children.
Kyle: Jodi was demonstrating and talking about a young lady that literally she had to teach her how to hug. She had been really, kind of, hurt by adults in her life and just had a hard time trusting And Jodi had to teach her how to hug.
Jodi: Those are the moments that keep us going and keep us still here 23 years later.
