The first stop for many boys is Hurricane or St. George, where a network for exiles exists. They often share apartments or sleep on couches while trying to find work. Some end up in Las Vegas or Salt Lake City.
Fischer, the former FLDS member who runs the Diversity Foundation in suburban Salt Lake City, wants to raise awareness about the boys as well as provide them with housing and further their education.
"The sole purpose of this foundation is to maintain a relationship with the Lost Boys," said Dave Bills, managing director of the organization. "I keep tabs on them. I offer them programs to get educated. Education is the key to this whole thing."
The boys working with the foundation are either in school or getting their GEDs. If they want to attend college, the Diversity Foundation will pay for it.
Bills said that many of the Lost Boys had emotional problems and turned to drugs or alcohol. "Imagine being 16 years old and asked, 'If you had one wish, what would it be?' These kids say, 'I'd love to see my mom.' "
Gideon has pretty much given up on that.
He attends high school in St. George and is learning to navigate, even embrace, the world he was once warned against.
He still favors wearing short sleeves -- and flashy shell necklaces. His cellphone rings often. Regular sessions with a therapist have made it easier to talk about his past, and he doesn't flinch anymore when classmates call him "the polygamist."
He is coming to grips with being abandoned, and no longer cries when talking about his family.
"If you have 71 brothers and sisters in the house, how can you establish a relationship with your father?" he asked.
As for his mother, Gideon is moving on.
"This is my mom," he said, nodding toward Glauser. "She treats me the way a mother should treat a son. She wakes me in the morning. She always talks to me. I don't know if I could ever pay her back."
As traumatic as the experience has been, Gideon said, it has taught him a crucial lesson about family and faith.
"No loving God would tear a family apart," he said. "Because a family is meant to be together."
