Featured Grant

Homeboy Industries

Homeboy Industries assists at-risk and former gang-involved youth to become contributing members of society.  Free programs – including counseling, education, tattoo removal, job training and job placement – enable young people to redirect their lives and provide them with hope for the future.  In addition to providing free support services, a distinctive feature of Homeboy Industries is its small businesses, where the most difficult to place individuals are hired in transitional jobs, thus giving them a safe, supportive environment in which to learn both concrete and soft job skills while building their resumes. Former rivals find themselves working side by side, finding true community and friendship in place of the pathological ties of gang life.

Homeboy’s on-site charter high school has graduated its first class of fifteen students, and enrollment continues to grow.  Homeboy’s Tattoo Removal clinic runs almost every day, performing about 3,000 free tattoo removal treatments last year.  The organization offers mental health services to about 140 clients per month.  Homeboy’s Bakery serves several major customers, including Meals on Wheels and the LA Convention Center, and the Homegirl Café does a lively business, including sales of two salsas in the deli section of the Ralph’s Grocery Store chain.  Homegirl is expanding its line of products for Ralph’s to ten.  The organization’s organic gardening component continues to grow, with satellite gardens at FarmLab and the Salesian Community Garden. 

In addition, Homeboy has launched a Solar Panel Installation Training Program in collaboration with East LA Skills Center.  This ten-week vocational training program trains up to forty individuals at a time for good-paying “green jobs”.  This has proven to be a highly successful program, enabling the organization to serve more clients and providing a strong pathway to permanent, outside employment.  The Homeboy Review, the literary magazine of the Homeboy Press, has produced its first issue, combining work of established writers with homegrown homeboy and homegirl writers.  Giving young people a voice and the chance to see their work in print has proven transformative to their sense of self-worth and motivation.  Additionally, the magazine is improving reading and writing skills, while those working to produce the magazine are learning computer graphics skills.

The current economic climate has gravely affected many nonprofits, and Homeboy is no exception.  As businesses lay off employees, the organization has seen the demand for services skyrocket at a time when foundation and individual giving is shrinking.  The organization has been forced to reduce the number of job training positions and to suspend two programs: the 30-Day Hire program (a program begun last summer) and the WIN (Work Is Noble) program, serving youth under 18. 

While these are challenging times, the organization continues to look ahead and to explore new ways to sustain its much-needed programs and services.