Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Getting to Know the Man behind Boys Town


Dr. Timothy D. Francis is an internationally renowned chiropractor who owns the Las Vegas-based clinic Chiropractic Kinesiology. Charitably, Dr. Timothy D. Francis supports Father Flanagan's Boys Town.

Established in 1917, Boys Town has become a refuge for young people who are considered to be in difficult situations. Aimed at healing children and their respective families through the provision of coping skills training, Boys Town was the result of the missionary work of Father Edward Joseph Flanagan.

Father Flanagan was born in County Roscommon, Ireland. He immigrated to the United States in 1904 when he was 18 years old. After his ordination in 1912, Father Flanagan was assigned to the diocese of Omaha, Nebraska, where he started ministering to the homeless people. After seeing the condition of the homeless youth he served, Father Flanagan came to understand that all of them could be productive citizens if they were placed in a nurturing environment. Driven by this philosophy, Father Flanagan opened his first Boys' Home in 1917 and went on to become an expert on the topic of juvenile delinquency.

Father Flanagan’s influence extended beyond Boys Town as he was designated by President Truman following World War II to travel internationally and listen to discussions about orphaned and displaced children in the midst of war. Father Flanagan passed away in 1948 in Berlin, Germany.