To many, he’s called Father Greg or Father “G.”
Over the years, Father Gregory Boyle, founder of the Los Angeles-based Homeboy Industries, the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world, has gained the respect of scores of ex-gang members and former inmates who credit the organization for giving them a second chance to turn their lives around.
He’s been recognized time and again for his work, not the least of which was being awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, by President Joe Biden earlier this month.
And this week, L.A. city officials declared that Sunday, May 19 – Boyle’s birthday – shall be known as Father Greg Boyle Day in the City of Angels.
It’s been “the privilege of my life to know all the thousands of men and women who have come through our doors at Homeboy,” Boyle said in brief remarks during the Friday, May 17, council meeting where he received a standing ovation.
He spoke of the driving principal behind Homeboy Industries’ work – the idea of investing in people rather than incarcerating them. The hope, he said, is to establish “a circle of compassion” where no one is left standing on the outside.
“We will leave from this place today and … seek to dismantle the barriers that exclude, and that is the task for everyone in this great, amazing city of Los Angeles,” Boyle said.
Cheering from the audience were dozens of current or former Homeboy Industries participants, many clad in blue T-shirts bearing the words “Fr. Greg Boyle Day May 19th” on the back.
Before he spoke, Capri Maddox, the executive director of the city’s Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department, described Boyle as “our angel in the City of Angels.”
Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who represents Council District 1 where Homeboy Industries’ headquarters is located, led the council in recognizing Boyle.
“Father Boyle’s commitment to dignifying some of our most ostracized community members has created more than workforce programming. It’s fueling a movement that empowers individuals with the tools they need to regain agency over their lives and to make a positive impact in their communities,” Hernandez said.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Boyle became pastor of Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights in 1986, at a time when gang activity ran rampant in L.A.’s Eastside.
Seeing the mass incarceration of gang members, Boyle, along with parish and community members, responded with what was considered a radical idea – creating an alternative school, daycare program and employment opportunities for gang members. The early effort was called Jobs for a Future.
Then in the wake of the 1992 L.A. riots, Jobs for a Future teamed up with the nonprofit Proyecto Pastoral to launch their first social enterprise, called Homeboy Bakery, in an abandoned bakery.
Other social enterprises were launched over the years, and in 2001, Jobs for a Future became an independent nonprofit and was renamed Homeboy Industries.
Today, Homeboy Industries trains and hires ex-gang members and former inmates to work in its 12 social enterprises, in addition to providing a host of support services for people who walk through its doors.
The nonprofit serves about 10,000 people annually, offering tattoo removals, therapy, classes that teach life skills, legal aid and other help.
It’s grown to become the world’s largest gang rehabilitation and re-entry program and is used as a model by more than 250 organizations and social enterprises around the world, according to Homeboy’s website. In 2022, First Lady Jill Biden toured Homegirl Cafe, one of Homeboy Industries’ social enterprises.
Shovon Walker, a 53-year-old former gang member who now works as a driver and in government relations for Homeboy Industries, got out of prison about two years ago. When he first got out, a housemate suggested he pay a visit to Homeboy Industries. Walker had never met Boyle but had seen him in an interview on television.
Walker met with Boyle and they talked about Walker’s past and his goals.
After Walker told Boyle about the challenges of finding a job because of his criminal record, the founder of Homeboy Industries said, “Welcome son, I’m going to hire you today,” Walker recounted in an interview, saying he had not expected a job offer.
“He welcomed me with open arms,” he said.
Walker described Boyle as the one to bring a sense of calmness to any situation. He also spoke of how Boyle would encourage people to call him, day or night, if they needed to talk.
“I know how many people probably call him, text him, email him daily. But he always gets back to you,” Walker said.
Following Friday’s proclamation ceremony by the City Council, about 100 guests were treated to a special luncheon with Boyle at City Hall, catered by Homegirl Catering, another one of Homeboy Industries’ social enterprises. Mayor Karen Bass was there to offer remarks.
Not everyone who wanted to attend the City Hall event could make it.
Jose Rodriguez is a former gang member whose father was absent from his life while he was growing up. He said Boyle – whom he likes to call “pop” – serves as that father figure for many of the people who go through the Homeboy program.
In an interview earlier this week, he credited Homeboy Industries – and Boyle in particular – for helping him move beyond a life of gangs and drugs.
After leaving prison at age 30, he went to Homeboy Industries, where he enrolled in anger management, parenting and substance abuse classes. The first time Rodriguez met Boyle and told him he couldn’t find anyone willing to hire him, “he said, ‘you start next week,’” Rodriguez said, recounting how Boyle gave him a job.
In time, Rodriguez went back to college. Today, the 47-year-old works as a drug counselor and outreach worker, working at a nonprofit and at Sylmar Juvenile Hall.
“I have a life because of Father Greg. I’m here because of him. I’m not in prison and I’m not dead because of him,” Rodriguez said.
“(It’s) all because of Father Greg.”