Iconic Catholic Priest Greg Boyle will headline the upcoming Norwalk Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast. Photo via the internet.
By Brian Hews
Father Greg Boyle will headline the 2014 Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast it was announced by city officials this past week.
Fr. Boyle is one of the nation’s most inspirational speakers and has become an iconic figure here in Southern California.
The public is invited to attend the event that is slated for Wednesday, February 12 starting at 6:30 a.m. at the Norwalk Doubletree Hotel, located at 13111 Sycamore Drive in Norwalk.
Before founding Homeboy Industries, Father Greg Boyle taught at Loyola High School and worked with Christian Base Communities in Cochabamba, Bolivia. He was appointed as Pastor of Dolores Mission in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles in 1986 where he served through 1992.
Fr. Greg then spent time as Chaplain of the Islas Marias Penal Colony in Mexico and Folsom Prison, before returning to Los Angeles and Dolores Mission.
He founded Homeboy Industries in 1988 with the Church Base Communities of Dolores Mission. The campaign later became the “Jobs for a Future” (JFF) program, an effort to address the escalating problems and unmet needs of gang-involved youth, Fr. Greg and the community developed positive alternatives, including establishing an elementary school, a day care program, a community organizing project, Comité Pro Paz en el Barrio, and finding legitimate employment for young people. JFF’s success demonstrated that many gang members are eager to leave the dangerous and destructive life on the ‘streets.’
In 1992, as a response to the civil unrest in Los Angeles, Fr. Greg launched the first business: Homeboy Bakery, with a mission to create an environment that provided training, work experience, and above all, the opportunity for rival gang members to work side by side. The success of the Bakery created the groundwork for additional businesses, thus prompting JFF to become an independent non-profit organization, Homeboy Industries, in 2001.
Today Homeboy Industries’ nonprofit economic development enterprises include Homeboy Bakery, Homeboy Silkscreen, Homeboy/Homegirl Merchandise, Homeboy Diner, Homeboy Farmers Markets, Homeboy Plumbing and Homegirl Café. Homeboy Industries, is now the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation and re-entry program in the United States.
Tickets are $25 person and are available by calling (562) 896-1526.
