"Chapter I: “A boy or girl given the proper guidance and direction…”

Father Edward J. Flanagan came to Omaha, Nebraska in 1913, and a drought that year filled the streets with unemployed farm laborers. When he saw the many homeless young boys outside his Workingmen’s Hotel for impoverished men, Father began to formulate his philosophy that assisting a boy when he was young might prevent him from turning into a homeless man.

On December 12, 1917, Father Flanagan borrowed $90 dollars from an anonymous friend believed to be Henry Monsky and opened the first Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home, a nonsectarian, non-proselytizing home for boys. It was an old run-down Victorian mansion near downtown Omaha. Five boys were the first to benefit from Father’s vision, and those first residents barely had time to get settled before a steady stream of additional boys began to arrive. They were sent by the court, referred by sympathetic citizens, and often, simply wandered in on their own. The front door was never locked, and any boy who came was allowed to enter, regardless of race, color or creed. There was hardly enough money to feed them, but these boys received stronger nourishment than food – love, care, patience and understanding in rich quantities. With this new venture, Father Flanagan began his pioneering effort to rehabilitate children instead of imprisoning them.

Father Flanagan also knew the boys needed more to become successful adults. He began to focus on their educations. A horse and wagon carried the boys to and from school, music was always a part of the home’s life and recreation in the form of supervised sports took place on the back lot. Tending to the boys’ needs was no small task, but Father Flanagan’s enthusiasm quickly attracted helpers. Neighborhood men and women volunteered their evenings and weekends, and the diocese sent nuns to help with the daily work.

Chapter II: “God will provide.