The non-professional cast culled from Homeboy Industries lends not only their own personal stories and experiences to the script, but brings passion to their stage performances that is easy to appreciate and root for. Their line delivery may not be perfect or of professional caliber, but it is indeed heartfelt and comes from a place of knowing, intuition, and love. more ›

Here's an absurd—and so far unexplained—bit of news: some probation officers are barring their clients from working at Homeboy Industries—you know, the group that has a contract with the county to work with juveniles on probation? more ›

Not only were you TIME's Person of the Year, you're now an LAist Classical Pick (it'll look great on your resume). Artist Luke Jerram with the help of LACO, finally brings "Play Me, I'm Yours" (#PMIYLA), to Los Angeles, with 30 pianos in tow. more ›

Homeboy Industries, the local non-profit that provides rehabilitation and job training for ex-gang members, has experienced some financial turbulence of late, but with help from LA County and other community supporters, they're hanging tough. Today, the organization announced that Homeboy Tortilla Chips and Salsas will be sold at Ralphs stores in Southern California. more ›

Just a few months ago, Homeboy Industries had to layoff the majority of its employees. Times were tough and the money wasn't coming in. The move left around 330 workers, mostly former gangmembers learning new job skills -- Homegirl Cafe, Homeboy Bakery, Homeboy Maintenance, etc. -- without much-needed intervention, social services and tattoo removal that was part of the program for many. Basically, "nothing stops a bullet like a job," as Father Gregory Boyle, the non-profit's founder, would say. more ›

Attention is currently is drawn to protests in Westlake over the officer involved shooting that left a man dead on Sunday, but the fatal Thursday morning shooting of a 19-year-old man just a mile away has failed to see much attention. Celeste Fremon at Witness LA describes Irvin Panameno, nicknamed Smiley, as a reformed gang member. more ›

Homeboy Industries, the organization that works on gang intervention through jobs and social services, has taken a large hit -- about 330 of its 429 employees were laid off yesterday. Father Gregory Boyle officially announced the news last night at Central Library in an event discussing his latest book, "Tattoos on the Heart," which has been on the LA Times best seller list for the past six weeks. more ›

There's an organized night hike of Upper Las Virgenes Canyon tonight at 6:30 pm sponsored by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. The "Trail to the Stars" is a two-hour moderate 1/2-mile hike. Meet at the Victory Blvd. entrance trailhead. The hike is free, but parking is $3. (Oh and leave Fido at home. No dogs allowed on the group hike.) more ›

It's a fascinating story -- ex-gang members from Los Angeles traveling to rural southwest Alabama to talk to kids about violence, gangs, poverty and love. Homeboy Industries, the largest gang intervention program in the country, is based in Los Angeles and is doing just that. The LA Times covered a recent trip to Prichard, Alabama by two members of Homeboy Industries, Luis Colocio and Agustin Lizama. more ›

Last week, the nation's largest anti-gang program was looking at their own financial crisis. After Friday, Homeboy Industries would have been out of money, thanks to the economy that blew a $5 million hole into the nonprofit's budget this year. For a place with the slogan "nothing stops a bullet like a job," they were considering furloughs. more ›

Taking on the next challenge, Homeboy Industries has expanded their breakfast and lunchtime eatery, Homegirl Cafe, to include Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights for dinner, says Ed Fuentes at blogdowntown. The cafe provides job experience for former gang members and at-risk youth and includes an organic garden, classes and an art gallery. The new dinner menu includes a Mexican salsa pasta, a vegan mole tofu dish and a cucumber avocado salad. Homeboy Industries also assists people through other programs like Homeboy Maintenance and Homeboy Bakery. more ›

Last night, NPR's Hidden Kitchens mavens, the Kitchen Sisters, brought in a full house at the California Endowment for a talk exploring the way a desire to better our lives can bring people together and inspire tremendous change, as part of an evening called "Who Glues Your Community Together through Food?" more ›

When the economy hits the big boys, it also hurts the homeboys. Now, we're not talking about the ones the City Attorney is planning to sue, but we are about the hard working nonprofit Homeboy Industries, which helps youth and former gang members become positive members of society. Celeste at Witness LA finds out about their hiring freeze: "In fact, they will be lucky if they can make payroll for their existing workers. Added to that, the jobs the Homeboy staff used to be able to find for the scores and scores of young men and women who come through their doors weekly looking for work, seem to have all but vaporized." So not only does the bottom line hurt in general, but the fact that they can't place people in jobs--which is part of their mission--because no one else is hiring impacts Homeboy on both sides. more ›