Boys' Towns and the Youth of Today
How does BTI support the youth of today?

In the past twenty years, the programs sponsored by BTI have become increasingly international in scope. Homeless boys and girls are referred to the Boys' Towns of Rome and to the Girls’ Town of Rome by various international organizations, the Red Cross, children's welfare agencies and the courts. Ranging in age from 10 to 21, these young people reflect diverse races and religions – Caucasian, African, Middle Eastern, Asian, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim – and come from many parts of the globe. Every year, in fact, about one-fourth of the children living in the facilities in Rome represent countries other than Italy.

These facilities consist of two separate Boys' Towns, called Garden City and Industrial City, and a Girls' Town, all located within a 15- to 20-minute drive from downtown Rome. Garden City, for 10- to 13-year-old boys, and Industrial City, for boys ranging in ages from 13 to 21, share certain facilities in common: the Scholastic School Building, the Computer Center, the Medical and Psychological Services Center, the Chapel of St. Jude, the swimming pool, sports fields, the farm, and the vineyards.

The boys and girls, whatever their age or national origin, share a background of misery and suffering. War, abandonment, or some other tragedy has left them in a precarious position. Some have neither family nor permanent shelter. The new "chance in life" offered to such young men and women in one of the "towns" takes the form of a challenge to assume responsibility for themselves and for their community.

For example, at the Industrial City of the Boys' Town of Rome, a new boy is considered a guest during his first two weeks. At the end of the two-week period, he applies for a job to the mayor. Once he receives a job assignment from the mayor, the boy becomes a citizen. He holds this job position for the remainder of the mayor’s tenure in office, which is generally two months. A young citizen will usually hold various job positions during his time at the Boys’ Towns. In this way, he is able to earn the money necessary to pay for his room and for his other incidental expenses, as well as to pay the town taxes. He participates in the town meetings, votes in the elections of the mayor and the chief justice, and hears the regular reports of the commissioners of school and labor, of finance, of sanitation and of sports. He is welcome to present proposals of his own, and to voice his opinion on all proposals brought before the community by his fellow citizens. If he wishes to run for one of the elective offices, he must demonstrate that he knows the Boys’ Town Constitution, and all of the other laws pertaining to the particular position.

The educational programs at the Boys’ Towns of Rome and Girls’ Town of Rome are designed to remedy past difficulties and to open the way to more advanced studies, while at the same time fostering skills that will lead to productive employment. The ceramics laboratories, the precision engineering workshops and the computer facilities all are centers of great activity.

All in all, the Boys’ Towns of Rome and Girls’ Town of Rome are real communities, where young people are responsible for organizing their daily lives and for making their communities work. They face problems, they make mistakes, they learn from their experience and from one another – and they go on.

In this way, the young citizens grow to understand life's real difficulties and to develop the confidence to confront those challenges. They learn tolerance for the mistakes of others and grasp the essence of true brotherhood. Throughout their years at the Boys' Towns of Rome or the Girls’ Town of Rome, they also know that they are loved and trusted, that their dignity is respected and that their capabilities will be encouraged.

One day, of course, each citizen will leave to build his or her own future and to create his or her own family. But every June, most will return for the annual alumni family reunion, proud of their past and proud of their lives.