Homeboy Trailer (2009)

Former gang-members of Boyle Heights ban together under the guidance of Father Gregory J. Boyle to operate Homeboy Industries. Through employment, counseling, social refuge and services like free tattoo removal, the center provides a safe place for troubled youth, and shows them the way to return to a life of meaning and how to give back to their communities. According to Father Boyle, “gangs are where kids go to escape a life of misery.” Many lose sight of the future and feel they have nowhere else to turn as they grapple with drugs and violence in the home and on the streets. As the gang-related death toll in Los Angeles reached 1,000 in 1992, Homeboy Industries was founded as an answer to this city’s desperate cry for help. By opening his doors and offering unlimited chances to those who have been branded by society as hopeless, Father Boyle proves that his policy of “no-matter-whatness” can restore compassion in even the most perilous gang-member. Thousands of youth have taken themselves out of harms way with the help of Homeboy Industry’s self-fulfilling motto, “Nothing Stops a Bullet Like a Job."