Breaking the cycle of violence and trauma
Founded in 1988, the mission of Homeboy Industries is to provide hope, training, and support to formerly gang-involved and previously incarcerated individuals, who are welcomed into a community of mutual kinship and love. Homeboy offers a wide variety of services ranging from tattoo removal to job training in the organization’s own social enterprises, to anger management and parenting classes. When an individual is supported and cared for by Homeboy, there is a ripple effect in the community, improving public safety and community health, and breaking the cycle of generational trauma in vulnerable communities.
In the 1980s while serving as pastor of Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights—then the most impoverished Catholic parish in Los Angeles—Fr. Gregory Boyle, S.J., witnessed the devastating impact of gang violence on his community. While law enforcement tactics of suppression and criminal justice policies of mass incarceration were the prevailing means to address gang violence, Fr. Boyle believed that “gang violence is about a lethal absence of hope,” and a different, community-led approach could curb this violence.
Trauma-informed approach and community-led solutions
Homeboy offers a trauma-informed gang intervention, rehabilitation and re-entry program, and is dedicated to providing hope, training and support to individuals, which in turn makes a positive impact in those individuals’ families and communities. Homeboy stands with those who have been discriminated against due to their former life and works to break this stigma; fosters foundational healing to those in its programs to prevent re-offense; and invests in the future of its clients and staff.
Serving as a blueprint for organizations and social enterprises around the world, Homeboy engenders a culture of caring by creating a space and structure for individuals as they heal from trauma and supporting their re-entry back into their community. This community-led approach has spawned a network of over 300 organizations around the world, known as the Global Homeboy Network.
