Father Greg Boyle (left), the founder of Homeboy Industries, with “Homies” Benjamin Valenzuela (center) and Hector Rodriguez (right) at Cristo Rey High School. Cassidy McNeeley photo
On the night of Tue., June 2, after Rev. Greg Boyle, the founder of Homeboy Industries, and two of his “homies” spent the day with students and staff at Cristo Rey High School in Savin Hill, they invited the community into the school for an evening of storytelling and reflection.
Founded in 1988, the Los Angeles-based organization has grown into the largest entity in the world focusing on gang-intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry programs. Last week’s event was an opportunity for Bostonians to hear first-hand about the work Homeboy is doing.
Cristo Rey President Rosemary Powers told the 250 guests packed into the school’s auditorium that, like Homeboy Industries, the Jesuit high school is rooted in a sense of belonging.
“Every day, our students inspire us with their resilience, intelligence, generosity, and determination,” she said. “Many are navigating challenges far beyond what most adults experience. Yet they show up every day ready to learn, grow, work, lead, and dream big dreams for themselves and their families.
“We often say education opens doors, and it does,” sh added, “but Father Boyle reminds us of something even more important: belonging changes lives. Before opportunity can truly flourish, people must know that they belong, that they are seen, valued, and loved. That belief is at the heart of our mission.”
Homeboy Industries offers an 18-month employment and re-entry program with services that include substance abuse support, tattoo removal, education, and workforce development.
This year, students and staff learned more about the making of this program through reading Boyle’s most popular book, “Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion.” While the book highlights Boyle’s experience working with gang members, the event gave two “homies” the chance to speak for themselves.
The first to take the podium was Benjamin Valenzuela, who shared his journey from addiction and crime to a fresh start at Homeboy Industries.
“I was introduced to the alcohol and party lifestyle early on,” said Valenzuela, who as a kid often accompanied his mother to the bar where she worked. “I reached junior high and high school, and I had started drinking and using drugs myself. I joined a gang and was jumped in at the age of 15. From there, life began to spiral.”
What followed was a series of stays at juvenile halls and camps throughout LA.
“On my 18th birthday, I ended up in the county jail. My first prison term came when I turned 20 years old,” he said. “After I got out, I ended up going back two more times. Over the years, total, it was eight years incarcerated in five different prisons and three different states, all because of drugs and alcohol.”
Valenzuela also shared that during that time, he also had five children with four different women. It wasn’t until his most recent relationship ended that he found his way to Homeboy Industries.
“Fourteen months ago, she made a difficult decision to leave me. She moved out and took our son with her,” she said. “At the time, I was hurt, I was angry, I was confused.
And looking back now, I can honestly say it was one of the best decisions she has ever made. Not because it broke our family apart, but because it forced me to finally face myself and change.”
Fourteen months ago, Valenzuela got clean, and nine months ago, he began his work with Father Boyle. With his support, Valenzuela graduated from high school, was recently hired as a janitor, completed his DUI program, and is in the process of getting his license back.
“I will always be grateful to Father Greg and everyone at Homeboy Industries,” he said, holding back tears. “They believed in me when I was struggling to believe in myself. They showed me that my past did not have to define my future. For years, drugs and alcohol controlled my life. Today I have a future and a purpose. I have hope.
Most importantly, I have the chance to be the father my children deserve.”
Speaking after Valenzuela was Hector Rodriguez, whose life was also defined by drinking and drugs. He traced his road to addiction to when he started using drugs to help his ADHD and improve his learning ability.
“My first experience wasn’t a harmful thing because it actually made me feel better,” he explained. “I was able to sit still and read. I felt like this is how I always wanted to be: confident, and I can pay attention.”
He added, “It wasn’t that I wanted to be bad. I didn’t know that one line of crystal was going to turn my life into a vicious pattern of destruction and crime and all these things. That wasn’t my intention.”
By the time he was 15, Rodriguez, now 41, was addicted. While he avoided serious trouble as a teen, much of his adult life has been spent in and out of jails and rehab centers.
“I always really wanted to have a better life,” he admitted. “When I got to Homeboy Industries, when I met Father Greg, when I met Benjamin, when I met other people through the community that Father Greg has built there for us, I was able to move further in life, and I was able to feel seen.”
With the support of the Homeboy community, Rodriguez is nine months clean and working toward building a better life. But he and Valenzuela are just two of many beneficiaries of Homeboy Industries.
“Ten thousand folks a year walk through our doors at Homeboy wanting to reimagine their lives,” said Rev. Boyle. “Every single one comes barricaded behind a wall of shame and disgrace, and the only thing that can scale that wall is tenderness. They walk through the doors, and they see someone much the same as they are, like Hector and Benjamin, and they are greeted by somebody who looks at them and their whole being and says with breathless delight, ‘You’re here, you’re here.’”
He added, “We want to create a place where people feel safe and seen, and then they can feel cherished. If it’s true that the traumatized are likely to cause trauma, then it has to be equally true that the cherished will be able to find their way to the joy there is in cherishing themselves and others.”
