HOMEBOY INDUSTRIES wrote -

Homeboy Industries Provides Hope, Training, and a Future for Formerly Gang-Involved Men and Women
 

THE PROBLEM

There are more than 80,000 active gang members in LA. Gang violence is a symptom of the complex interactions between deep poverty, lack of education, and little access to social services. Homeboy Industries seeks to remove the many barriers facing gang-involved men and women as they work to change their lives.

HOW HOMEBOY HELPS

Homeboy Industries has been serving high-risk, recently incarcerated, and formerly gang-involved youth looking to change their lives for nearly 25 years. Located in gang-neutral territory in Downtown Los Angeles, Homeboy Industries’ headquarters are home to social enterprises that provide job training as well as a multitude of free services for those in need.

Close to 12,000 people walk through our doors every year, seeking services and a path out of gang life. Homeboy strives to confront immediate needs for our clients, such as employment, while simultaneously addressing underlying issues including deep poverty, mental health disorders, substance abuse and lack of education.

Homeboy Industries is the largest gang intervention and re-entry program in the world, and our model of job-training positions, combined with comprehensive wrap-around services, all in a community of acceptance and growth, is recognized as a success by leaders in research, government and law enforcement.

Each month at Homeboy:

• 30 volunteer doctors perform more than 800 tattoo removal sessions
• 120 clients receive mental health therapy
• Up to 20 students engage in GED tutoring
• 95 students under 19 work toward their high school diploma at LearningWorks! Charter High School
• 130 clients receive on-site guidance from our in-house legal team
• 400 community clients and trainees can take more than 40 classes every month, from Baby and Me to Anger Management, Computer Basics or Substance Abuse
• Up to 50 students enrolled in Solar Panel Installation and Certificate Training
• More than 30 clients placed in outside employment through our Employment Services Department
• More than 250 trainees gain vocational skills in our job training program, with a case manager for each client, starting on day one
• 1,000 men and women walk through our doors, hopeful that we can help them to change their lives

Besides this far-reaching impact, we also measure our success by the individual stories of transformed lives that we see, every day, as we work with those who have decided to become leaders.

Trainee Louie asked to speak to the hundreds gathered in our lobby. Louie has been working in the tattoo removal clinic and recently secured a great position outside Homeboy. On his last day, he came before us to say “I will never be able to pay Homeboy back with money, but I will pay them back – with my success.” He pointed at every trainee and the folks seeking services that day and said, “You are all diamonds, covered in dust. Let Homeboy wipe off that dust so you can shine.”