Galen: Rebuilding Connections

Galen feels at home in a country environment. Originally from Canada, he lived on a farm for six years before moving to Stephenville, Texas, with his mother and father where he spent two years learning to rope and ride horses.

But after his parents separated, he started to have a tough time adjusting to the situation. His father moved to another town and his relationship with his mother began to decline. They decided the best thing for Galen’s future was for him to live at Methodist Children’s Home.

A resident since January 2015, the MCH Boys Ranch was a good fit for Galen’s background. He joined FFA, cares for steer every day and worked in the horse barn last year. He also spends a lot of time fishing and being outside. However, it took him some time to adjust to living with new people and said he was pretty antisocial toward everyone at first. But being in a home with, at times, nine other young men helped him learn to be more patient and tolerant.

“It has put me into positions where I’ve had to keep a level head or else it would affect not only my standing here at MCH, but also my standing in life,” Galen said. “Everyone comes here with different backgrounds so you have to understand that to live here.”

Galen was met with another challenge when his father passed away in January of this year. Although his relationship with his mother has improved greatly during his time at MCH, he said the process of coping with the loss ended up bringing them even closer together.

“I go on a lot of home visits,” he said. “I spend a lot of time at home. I have built a strong relationship with my mother through MCH and through their help.”

Galen was on the academic honor roll last school year and will be a senior in the fall at the MCH charter school. School is important to him, he said. He will attend dual-credit courses as a senior and hopes to attend Texas State Technical College after graduation to study biomechanics. His father was a mechanic, and Galen has fond memories of learning from him. He said through a trade in biomechanics, he can work on machines in hospitals anywhere in the world. He dreams of moving to the Bahamas to work at a hospital within walking distance to the beach.

Maegan Molnar, his unit manager at the Boys Ranch, is proud of the progress that Galen has made during his time at MCH.

“Through hard work and patience, Galen has overcome many obstacles which have granted him maturity and great leadership skills,” Molnar said. “Galen has built trusting relationships with the adults he works with on a daily basis and has become closer with family which was one of his goals upon admission. It’s been a joy to see Galen transform into a dependable, hardworking and driven young man.”