Ali, J.J., Medhi, and Kyle shoot hoops in a driveway-nothing special in that but the locale: a Boys Hope home just outside Denver. The boys who live there find what their families unfortunately cannot provide: a stable home life to help them succeed in grade school and high school and shoot for college.

A SPRING RAINSTORM steals in from the plains east of Denver, and a distant growl of thunder briefly intrudes on suppertime prayers in a big gray house on Buckley Street.

Each member of the household, hand-in-hand, takes a turn recounting the day's blessings as the aroma of pasta sauce and garlic bread rises from the long wooden table in the dining room. A moment later, reverence gives way to restrained hullabaloo as a day's worth of stories pour forth from the eight young scholars of Boys Hope.

Listening in, one would not guess this "family" differs from most. Conversations gust from the hottest hip-hop artists to Michael Jordan's diminishing skills to the perils of impacted wisdom teeth. If there's still thunder outside, it's no match for the voluminous chatter.

The conversation lasts a good deal longer than the spaghetti. It's that way when eight boys, ages 10 to 17, eat and talk, only occasionally at the same time. This is part of the daily routine at Boys Hope, and routine is essential here. The stability and structure found under this roof is often dramatically different from the boys' previous circumstances.

"Typically, we have a single parent struggling to care for a child and maintain a full-time job," explains Debbie O'Dwyer, Boys Hope's executive director, who took over the program's reins two years ago. "Of course, some come from much more dire situations. These children are just like mine and yours-they just need a chance. A chance is what we provide-the opportunity of a lifetime-and most of them realize and seize the opportunity."

Boys Hope Girls Hope, a nondenominational program founded by Fr. Paul Sheridan, SJ, in 1977, maintains 37 homes in 22 cities nationally and abroad. Each strives to help children in difficult circumstances realize their personal and academic potential by providing them with family-like environments and high-quality educations.

"Boys Hope certainly is unusual in the sense that it provides an opportunity for kids before they are in trouble," says program director and psychologist Jo Swanson, who first came to the house as a volunteer in 1996. "There are so many systems in our society that provide services for kids with drug problems, with behavior problems. We get to them before the environment gets to them."

The ultimate academic goal for each child in this home in Aurora, Colorado, is to succeed at nearby Regis Jesuit High School and advance to college. That's no small feat-Regis is a nationally recognized academic institution. The young scholars must demonstrate some academic potential to be accepted into Boys Hope, but each will require years of nurturing, encouragement, and discipline.

		Kenny loads the dishwasher, Ali reads a comic, and Kyle and J.J. catch up on homework. This sense of daily-life structure is a hallmark of the Boys Hope Girls Hope program, founded in 1977 by Fr. Paul Sheridan, SJ. This idea of his has grown to include 21 homes in cities ranging from Detroit, Cincinnati, and Baton Rouge to Sao Paulo in Brazil and Galway in Ireland.

Success these days is embodied in Curtis, a tall, muscular boy who arrived at Boys Hope eight years ago as a frightened nine-year-old, when the paint was new and the program in its infancy. Curtis, who graduated from Regis High this May, will enter Denver's Regis University in the fall, with undecided major but soaring hopes.

"I have this journalism thing in mind," Curtis says, stretching out on the family-room couch after dinner. "Teaching comes to mind sometimes. It changes about every two or three weeks."

Curtis, soft-spoken and confident, has overcome far more in his seventeen years than most high school seniors. To the delight of the Boys Hope staff, he recently led a school-sponsored retreat for his Regis classmates, and his grades have improved significantly from his early years with the program.

Houseparent Kirstin Broady has been there all along, and she marvels at the dramatic changes in Curtis, not only as a student but also as a person. She recalls a recent moment when Curtis gently encouraged an attitude adjustment for a younger "brother" in the home. "I got goosebumps," she says. "He was inspiring."

Curtis reports little trepidation about college, partly because he has learned to dedicate two hours a day to studying, a requirement at Boys Hope.

"To see a guy grow and blossom, to see he can be a good student, he can be a leader . . . it makes it all worthwhile," says Fr. Walter Sidney, SJ, Regis High's president and Boys Hope board trustee. "All the risks, all the chances you take with kids who didn't work out, to see that happen with Curtis-it makes it worth the chance with some other kids."

Boys Hope has seen its share of heartaches over the years. A committee screens applicants to help determine if Boys Hope is the right fit for them, and not every application reveals the whole story. Some deep-seated emotional problems are simply beyond Boys Hope's scope.

"It's hard when we come to the realization that we are not the best placement for that child," O'Dwyer says. "We do expect a lot. It's a disciplined program. We have high expectations, both academic and social. We try to make them safe, nurture them, love them, and care for them, but they have a lot of things they have to deal with."

House parent Michelle Tinsley leads her "family" in prayer before dinner. She and two other house parents, Kirstin Broady and Rob Ostheimer, are role models who offer guidance and discipline and teach values on a live-in basis.

Jesuit involvement in the household is regular. Fr. John Apel, superior of the local Jesuit community, helps maintain the scholars' bicycles, while Fr. Tom Valiquette assists them in spiritual development. Fr. Dave Wayne sits on the facilities committee, which helps with repairs around the house. Fr. Sidney keeps an eye on the residents' academics. And Fr. Leo Weber, the Missouri Jesuit provincial when Fr. Sheridan founded the program, is a regular guest at the Boys Hope family dinners.

"They make anyone feel welcome," Fr. Weber says. "They're an extremely polite and outgoing, respectful set of guys. They find it very easy to talk with people and tell them about their lives and how it's going. A young person is not always that way."

A young person is not always a good housekeeper, either, but at Boys Hope, caring for the home is almost as important as caring for each other. Each child has a daily chore-table-setting, kitchen sweeping, dishwashing-as well as a more involved "deep-cleaning" task on Fridays, "the hardest part" of Boys Hope, according to J.J., a seventh-grader. At the home on Buckley Street, beds are made, rooms are straightened, the order is kept.

On weekends, the scholars even take turns cooking. Tonight, though, the spaghetti and meatballs come courtesy of the Regis Jesuit High Mom's Club, which prepares meals Mondays and Wednesdays, saving Boys Hope thousands in grocery bills. It's one of the countless ways the Boys Hope community extends beyond the walls of the home.

If the Boys Hope volunteer houseparents and paid staff are a second family to the scholars, then Regis High School represents their extended second family. The basement rec room, once a hodge-podge of used furniture, now includes a surround-sound entertainment center, a ping-pong table, and a pop-a-shot basketball game. The facelift is the result of the generosity of the Zakoviches-a family with a son at Regis-who replaced their annual Christmas party with an invitation to help Boys Hope.

"I have this journalism thing in mind," says Boys Hope resident Curtis. "Teaching comes to mind sometimes. It changes about every two or three weeks." Curtis, who came to Boys Hope eight years ago, is talking about college majors. He graduated from Regis High in Denvery in May and starts Regis University this fall. Boys Hope Girls Hope sets high expectations for the emottional, spiritual, and academic growth of the youth it adopts.

For more information about Boys Hope Girls Hope go to www.boyshopegirlshope.org. For a past Company magazine story on the topic go to www.companymagazine.org/v131/buckley.html

The Closet Factory, owned by another Regis family, the Lestikows, recently donated $14,000 in high-quality closet shelving, creating storage space throughout the 6,400 square-foot home. A computer room upstairs holds five donated PCs, which Regis's tech department services and upgrades.

The house itself was constructed in 1994 through donated supplies and time, with leadership from real estate developers Don McFall and Barry Talley. New, double-paned windows lean against a garage wall awaiting installation, and new tile has already been laid in the mud room-gifts from the local Homebuilders Foundation.

The challenges overcome and lessons learned on Buckley Street may transfer to a new home soon. With Regis High School opening a girls' division in fall of 2004, the local Boys Hope leadership has plans for a Girls Hope home, and Regis is committed to providing scholarships. HomeAid America, a nonprofit that works with local homebuilders' associations, has contributed to the funds needed to build the new home, and O'Dwyer is looking for the rest, including operational funding.

For today, though, Boys Hope on Buckley Street remains focused on helping eight boys mature into confident men for others-men like Curtis.

Greg Kail, communications director for the Archdiocese of Denver, graduated from Regis Jesuit High in Denver, from Marquette University with a bachelor's in journalism, and from the University of Denver with a master's in digital media studies. The former editor of the Vail Daily newspaper, Greg lives in Denver with his wife and three boys, ages 6, 4 and 2, and serves on Boys Hope's Program Committee.