Success Stories

So I grew up in Washington, D. C. I felt like I was a kid that was kind of lost in just the environment that I was in. I was bullied when I was a kid, and I ended up getting shot in my spinal cord and in my right shoulder with a shotgun, right before my 11th birthday. And I felt like for most kids, that would have been an experience that would have broken them. I think for me, the journey of healing through post-traumatic stress, but had it not been for that experience, I don't think I would be where I am today. When I got to Boys Town, I was 16.

I had never been in a group home before. I was very nervous. I come up to this Harry Potter-looking house. My social worker takes me out the car. We walk up, we go inside, and I'm greeted with just love. I was a kid that grew up in a pretty broken environment. I did not have a mom, I did not have a dad that was consistently there.

And that was the first time I ever saw a family couple. That was the first time I ever ate dinner at a table. And it felt like love. Boys Town and the family home was just the place where I just felt like I flourished. It was a home that my family teachers, who are now my godparents, have not only taught me just how to become a young man and transition into adulthood, but they taught me about God, and I developed a good relationship in church. I called them godparents because I felt that they were the parents that connected me to God. That's literally why I called them godparents.

It went from that to literally, I'm calling you all parents because you all are literally the only parents that I have in my life. Thankfully, Boys Town gave me a scholarship to go to school. I got my undergraduate degree in psychology. I graduated with my master's, and I just felt like I wanted to branch out. And I want to be in a position where I can impact the foster care system. I prayed, I wrote that vision, and I just looked up Boys Town New Orleans. And I applied for a job, and I ended up interviewing for the director position of the community support director.

And about a day later, I got a phone call saying I got the job. I really think that my position on this earth is to really be a servant. And I think that what Boys Town taught me is that I had to go through what I had to go through because there's some youth out there that they aren't having the support. They are silent. They're not able to advocate. They're going under the radar. No one's really paying attention to them.

And I feel like my job is to be an advocate. I take pride in being able to stand and say, I've been through this. Your experience is different than mine, but let's figure out how we can make this system better together. As a successful alum, I wouldn't have come back to Boys Town if I didn't believe in a mission.