“WE WORK WITH THE POPULATION THAT NOBODY DESIRES TO WORK WITH, AND IT’S A PRINCIPLE OF THIS PLACE THAT WE STAND WITH THEM”

FR. GREG BOYLE 

What began in 1988 as a way of improving the lives of former gang members in East Los Angeles has evolved into the largest gang intervention, rehab and re-entry program in the world.

Each year we welcome thousands of people through our doors seeking to transform their lives. Whether joining our 18-month employment and re-entry program or seeking discrete services such as tattoo removal or substance abuse resources, our clients are embraced by a community of kinship and offered a variety of free wraparound services to facilitate healing and growth. In addition to serving almost 7,000 members of the immediate Los Angeles community in 2018, our flagship 18-month employment and re-entry program was offered to over 400 men and women.

HISTORY

In 1986, when Homeboy Industries’ founder, Gregory Boyle became pastor of Dolores Mission Church, it was the poorest Catholic parish in Los Angeles. The parish included Aliso Village and Pico Gardens, then the largest public housing projects west of the Mississippi. They also had the highest concentration of gang activity. That was saying something, given Los Angeles’ reputation as the gang capital of the world.

At the time, law enforcement tactics of suppression and criminal justice policies of mass incarceration were the prevailing means to deal with gang violence. But where others only saw criminals, Father Greg saw people in need of help. Today, Homeboy Industries is the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world, welcoming thousands through our doors each year.

We work with those who have been left behind without hope. Their healing and re-entry are often not achieved in a straight line—it can take years, with detours along the way. But our impact is evident in each life transformed, and as those lives impact their families and communities, we’re creating a positive ripple effect not only around the city of Los Angeles, but in communities around the world.