Homeboy Industries rescued by funding

Officials of Homeboy Industries meet with Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard during a visit to Washington, D.C., earlier this year to advocate for anti-gang programs. From left are Dr. Jorja Leap of the School of Public Affairs at UCLA; Father Greg Boyle, founder and executive director of Homeboy Industries; Roybal-Allard, Louis Perez, a former gang member and current employee of Homeboy Industries; and Joe Escamilla, a former gang member and current employee of Homeboy Industries. The program has received a $340,000 contract from the city of Los Angeles.

By WIRE SERVICES

Story Published: Aug 21, 2009 at 4:01 PM PDT

Story Updated: Aug 21, 2009 at 4:01 PM PDT

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BOYLE HEIGHTS — A highly regarded but financially struggling program that provides jobs to reformed gang members got a new lease on life last week when the City Council authorized the mayor’s office of Gang Reduction and Youth Development to negotiate and execute a $340,000 contract with Homeboy Industries so it can continue to operate at least for the next 10 months.

The money will come from a $2.5 million gang reduction program grant from the Justice Department in 2003, of which $2.16 million has been spent. The $340,000 slated for Homeboy Industries represents the remainder of the funds.
Father Gregory Boyle, a Jesuit priest, founded Homeboy Industries in 1988 to rehabilitate gang members by offering them jobs at a bakery, a cafe and a silk-screening shop. His slogan: nothing stops a bullet like a job.

The program also provides counseling and education.

Boyle said Homeboy Industries was running out of cash because the economic recession had forced businesses and charities to reduce their donations.

Homeboy Industries also lost funding when government agencies cut their contracts or failed to pay debts to the program.

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