A few words commonly used to describe eighteen-year-old Changpiny include responsible, hardworking and encouraging. While these attributes are what define Changpiny today, they are a far cry from the characteristics of the young man who came to Omaha Home for Boys in the summer of 2018. Before Changpiny’s time in the Home’s Residential Care Program,

When you look at a map, it doesn’t seem that getting from Omaha, Nebraska to Council Bluffs, Iowa would be all that difficult. Pretty much all that separates the neighboring cities is the state line and a winding stretch of the Missouri River. It appears especially easy to navigate from one town to the other

Prayers – possibly the only thing that kept Israel going when everything around him seemed so bleak. He was a high school graduate but had no plans for the future. After being homeless for a bit, he was living in a cramped, overcrowded apartment with friends of his father. Being unemployed and out of school

It wasn’t long ago that on a typical school day when sixteen-year-old Gabe should have been in class studying he was nowhere to be found. In fact, there were times when his teachers wouldn’t see him for two or three weeks at a time. Gabe’s truancy landed him on probation but that didn’t faze the

To say that 19-year-old Mahalia’s life has been full of disappointment would be quite an understatement. Let down by her parents she found herself living in a less than ideal situation. At a time in her life when a solid support system and a positive mentor were critical to her development, there were none. All

At 16 I was somebody’s mistake and at 17 somebody’s regret. At 18 I was somebody’s problem, being tossed from detention center, to group home to foster families like it was a game of hot potato. At 19 I was turned into a monster.

As a teen, Carlos’ life was anything but typical. His relationship with his father was tumultuous to say the least. Carlos was never at home, struggled with substance abuse and was surrounded by gang influences. Probation tried to intervene with drug therapy and family therapy, but Carlos rejected their help. At a time when going

Markus should have been thinking about school activities, socializing, the upcoming holidays and Snapchat. Instead, his thoughts were consumed with wondering where he was going to sleep that night and how he would survive the streets…until Omaha Home for Boys changed his fate.