IT STARTED WITH A HOUSE FIRE IN ARIZONA when Enzo was in sixth grade. Soon after, he and his family packed up all they had left and moved to Amarillo to live with his grandmother for a while and start again.
But even with his grandmother’s support, Enzo’s mother, a single mom, couldn’t handle raising five children by herself. “So, I think it was a good decision to send me to a place where I’d have more structure,” Enzo admits.
His move to Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch was life changing — not just for him, but for his whole family. Once he graduated, his sister moved to Boys Ranch too. Soon afterward, “my mother was able to take really good care of my three younger siblings. So it was really good for all of us,” Enzo explains.
Enzo shined in his studies. “I was always good at school,” he says. “Academics came pretty natural to me.” But it was Boys Ranch that encouraged him the most. “I think the biggest difference from before and after Boys Ranch was, I got bullied a lot in public school, but that didn’t happen at Boys Ranch.”
Enzo matured quickly. “I think Boys Ranch really taught me how to be a leader more than anything else in my life. There are a lot of kids out there who really have no direction, and they’re so wounded by adults in their past. Boys Ranch taught me to stand on my own two feet and make my own decisions.”
Through discipline, prayer and a lot of love, Enzo graduated from high school at Boys Ranch as a confident, independent young man. He was accepted into the pre-med program at Texas Tech. Everything seemed to be going his way until he was hit from behind while riding a motorcycle. Enzo’s injuries were serious and long-term, including 11 surgeries.
“I ended up losing three inches of my right leg. So it’s the process of reattachment, rehabilitating and then growing it back out. I’m almost 100 percent. I’m just missing a little bit of mobility still, and I’m working on that,” Enzo explains.
Just like before, Boys Ranch stepped in to help Enzo when life got rough. We consider all alumni to be our kids for life. For about a year, Alumni Support provided an apartment for Enzo while he was rehabilitating, a place he wouldn’t have had without your help. He’s a great example of how Boys Ranch stands with our residents and alumni, investing in their success while on the ranch and long afterward.
“Alumni Support was always there for me, and they were always supporting me,” Enzo says. “They brought me groceries, took me to my surgeries; they would just call and check up on me, take me to coffee to see how I was doing during the entire rehabilitation.”
“The accident really showed me what I could deal with. I’ve never been through something so difficult, you know. Now, I can face challenges in life with a new confidence,” he says.
Your investment in Boys Ranch goes far beyond children growing up here. For Enzo, Alumni Support became a lifesaver. “It was comforting to have somebody believe in me even if I didn’t believe in my own ability to do things. You can just feel how much they care for you. I think that really allowed me to keep my head up even when I was down,” he says.
Grateful for your help, Enzo adds, “Thank you for all that you did to give me the opportunity to experience life and develop my character. There are so many things I got to do at Boys Ranch that I never would have at home. That kind of investment in a child makes him or her feel worthy, makes them feel like they can get out there and show the world who they are and what they’re able to do . . . all because of the donors.”