Lifting up the goodness in others
I wish you could have been with me at the end of last week, when I had the opportunity to attend the inaugural Global Homeboy Network DC Summit.
Longtime readers of this blog are familiar with Homeboy Industries and its founder, Gregory Boyle, a Jesuit priest. Here is my most recent post. And here is local news coverage about Homeboy after Boyle was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the highest civilian honor — by President Biden in 2024.
Boyle has been working for 40 years to help former gang members in Los Angeles, and he founded Homeboy to hire the least employable.
At the summit, eight homeboys and homegirls described their often horrific childhood and gang experiences.
And now, these same people are executives of Homeboy’s various enterprises (cafes, bakeries, catering, pet grooming, electronic recycling and more), with $47 million in revenue in 2024, according to ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer.
How has this happened?
Boyle is a gifted lover of others, visionary and humorist, as readers of his books can attest. He came to the conclusion that “a healed gang member will not re-offend.”
Homeboy’s core values are:
— Unconditional love. “Recognition and acceptance that healing is not a linear path and cherishing the sojourner through it.”
— Whole person healing. “Trauma-sensitive support acknowledging the breadth of care clients may need.”
— Radical kinship. “A familial bond between staff and clients.”
Homeboy provides mental health, employment, housing, educational, legal, tattoo removal, and other services.
The Homeboy model has attracted widespread attention, and the Global Homeboy Network, formed in 2014, now includes 600 organizations that also are working to “provide people with the tools they need to change their lives.”
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