Owen

Lessons in belonging
You need to know that you matter.

He is a teenager who captured the hearts of our staff. He had no place to go; he believed he had no one who cared. We showed him otherwise.

Meet Owen.

  • He is 17 years old.
  • His mother left him when he was 1.
  • Sometimes he lived with an aunt, but he spent most of his childhood with a guardian – the ex-husband of his mother’s sister (a different aunt) – whom he called “uncle.”
  • He came to our multipurpose home at age 16 for stealing his uncle’s truck.
  • His uncle is remarried, and Owen is no longer welcome in his home.
  • He gave our staff teacher a coffee mug and candy for Mother’s Day.
  • He discovered his own mother lived 15 miles away as he worked on a family tree project.
  • He wants to build a relationship with her.
  • He moved into our transitional living home last May to learn how to be independent.
  • For his birthday, we gave him a BMX bike.
  • He loves to read and keeps at least four books by his bed.
  • He earned his GED and forklift certification while he lived with us.
  • He worked hard in his first job at a fast-food restaurant.
  • He left us this spring and lives now with his 24-year-old cousin.
  • He doesn’t think his life is harder than that of other kids he knows.
  • He’s working at a bike shop, and he just got a promotion.
  • One day, he wants to go to college.

We will be here for him.

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