Feature

Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Volunteer at East LA’s Homeboy Industries

THANK YOU to Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, for their visit yesterday! Our Bakery & Café teams were thrilled to have them work alongside us to #FeedHOPE to Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (on right) donned their masks and gloves to lend a hand at the Homeboy Industries. The Bakery & Café teams said they were, “thrilled to have them work alongside us to #FeedHOPE. Harry and Meghan were volunteering in East Los Angeles on June 23rd. Meghan and Harry helped prepare food for Homeboy Industries’ Feed Hope project, which has been serving free meals to seniors and youth who have become food insecure amid the pandemic.

Staffers called Harry and Meghan down to earth.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex pose with the whole crew. Credit: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex

Homeboy Industries, launched in East L.A. in 1988, is now the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program in the world. The program sees thousands of people each year for programs from job training to substance abuse assistance. In addition to the bakery and downtown cafe, Homeboy Industries also runs a diner at City Hall, operates a catering service, and produces a line of retail products.

Markle first learned about the program as a teenager, when she met Homeboy Industries founder Father Greg Boyle while attending Immaculate Heart High School. “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were just ‘Harry and Meghan’ to the homies,” Boyle says. “They rolled up their sleeves and deeply engaged with our workers in the Bakery and Café.”

Homeboy Industries is located at 1370 East 18th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90021.

From Homeboy Industries:

What does Homeboy Industries do?
We help formerly gang involved and the previously incarcerated, by offering hope, training and job skills. Our goal: To help former gang members redirect their lives and become contributing members of their families and our community. Homeboy Industries is the largest and most successful gang intervention, rehab, and reentry program in the world and has become a model for other organizations and cities.

How long has Homeboy Industries been around?
Homeboy was started by Father Greg Boyle in 1988 to answer the need for employment and educational opportunities among youth. It began in the Dolores Mission Parish in Boyle Heights (East Los Angeles). Today, Homeboy is located in gang-neutral downtown Los Angeles.

What are Homeboy Industries’ Social Enterprises?
Social enterprises are businesses that apply commercial strategies to improve the well-being of individuals rather than creating enterprises for profit. Homeboy is an organization with many true social enterprises where trainees are paid to learn job skills and take advantage of comprehensive services. By offering former gang members a place to work, Homeboy provides a place for them to learn soft skills, like administration and customer service, and also vocational skills from solar panel installation to pastry baking or catering. These jobs in Homeboy’s social enterprises, often the first “legit” employment our clients have ever held, give our clients confidence and self-esteem while enabling them to provide for their families.

The jobs our clients have through our social enterprises offer them alternatives to re-incarceration or a return to their former gang lives.

Homeboy’s Social Enterprises include:
Homeboy Bakery (storefront, wholesale, and online at homeboyfoods.com.)
Homeboy Silkscreen & Embroidery
Homegirl Café
Homegirl Catering
Homeboy Merchandise
Farmers Markets
Homeboy Diner at Los Angeles City Hall
Homeboy Electronics Recycling

What services are offered at Homeboy?
Case Management
Tattoo Removal
Workforce Development / Employment Services
Mental Health Services – individual therapy, substance abuse counseling, and group classes
Legal Services
Education – including academic, life skills, wellness and enrichment classes,and a partnership with LearningWorks Charter High School.
Solar Panel Training and Certification

All of Homeboy’s services, offered free of charge, are designed to equip our clients to successfully turn their lives around. Participants in the 18-month program are offered case management and comprehensive wrap-around services while at Homeboy. All of our services (with the exception of case management and individual therapy) are free and open to community clients as well.

How does someone apply for help at Homeboy Industries?
Each individual seeking support has to come to our headquarters and walk in the front door. We aim to hire those with the MOST barriers to employment; youth recently released from juvenile camps and halls, or adults from prison, those with visible tattoos and those who are trying to leave their gang. There is a process to joining our program that can take several visits, but the first step is coming into our headquarters so we can meet you!

Elisa Klein

As the Editor and Publisher of Society Page, it’s my privilege to collaborate with Development Officers in the nonprofit community to honor patrons who make a difference. I’ve been a professional journalist and writer since 1987, (and long-time reporter for KOIN-TV.) I'm a nationally published writer with a passion for the work of nonprofits.