6 minute read
In the Pursuit of Healing…
Written by: Diana Corona Photographed by: Kengkue Her Designed by: Joseph Smallwood
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Do you know what the word consecutive means?”
The boy sitting before the judge didn’t know, but the judge did — and he knew the boy would soon find out.
The 16-year-old was sentenced to 27 years in prison and two consecutive life sentences for assisting in a robbery. In that moment, the boy had an epiphany — the justice system did not care about him.
It wasn’t until years of incarceration in the U.S. prison system that he says he realized healing would have to come from within the community from which he came.
While debate surrounds the idea of rehabilitation in prison, organizations such Homeboy Industries devote themselves to aiding those in need of a second chance.
Phu “Van” Huynh is the boy who was set to serve those two life sentences but was recently released. He now serves as a fulltime trainee at Homeboy Industries, giving tours of the establishment and living out the mission of the organization.
“People are being conditioned in gang violence before they can speak; they never had a chance. A lot of these men and women don’t have anyone outside of gang community to show them love,” Huynh says. “Here, we show love, patience and understanding. However you come is how you’re accepted. We sit with you where you’re at.”
For 32 years, Homeboy Industries has been uplifting and investing in young men and women who were previously involved in gang violence or imprisoned by offering resources ranging from tattoo removal to job training and mental and physical wellness. Founded by Father Greg Boyle, a Jesuit priest who witnessed Los Angeles's "decade of death" when gang violence peaked in the 1980s and 1990s, Homeboy has grown into the largest gang intervention, rehab and reentry program in the world.
The industries run a number of social enterprises that help aid these in-house services, including Homegirl Cafe and Homeboy Bakery, with locations around Los Angeles County. Each enterprise employs individuals seeking a life outside of gang violence, with a large number consisting of current full-time trainees or members of the 18-month program.
Latisha Ealenzuela, line cook for Homeboy Café and San Fernando native, prepares chopped onions for a dish.
The mission of the organization covers a wide range of things, from healing to employment. For most, healing is an internal process, and a challenging one because of systematic issues and influences in gang culture. While employment opportunities and workforce development are important to the industries, the process of life outside of prison requires additional efforts and other services that are just as important.
Homeboy Industries offers services to members or trainees, as well as some to the public. Roughly 200 men and women participate in Homeboy's in-house services during its 18-month program, in addition to its 1,200 community clients. Among these programs are workforce development, substance abuse, legal services, education services and case management.
Perhaps the most vital of the services offered are those that aid with healing the internal struggles of those who become a part of the industries. In recent years, the fight against the stigma surrounding mental health has been prevalent across many platforms. However, the conversation struggles to gain traction in the gang community because of intense social pressure to appear strong and violent threats that can accompany seeking help.
“The stigma happens more so in gang and prison culture. In prison, guys can get killed for receiving this kind of help,” Huynh says.
The dangers of providing resources, such as mental health help, within Homeboy Industries are ever-present because of this stigma. Threats from gang culture exist just as boldly, especially when previous members try to find a way out of gangs and into healing.
“Some of the gangs, if not all of them, have a policy against using mental health services. No matter how sick you are, you can’t go to those. (If) they find out you do, you’re basically out of the gang,” Huynh says. “To be out of the gang is pretty much a death sentence. So where does (Homeboy Industries) fit in (the gang) community if we’re changing lives? Are we placing men and women at risk of death? Yes, but they have a better chance here than if they were still active in the gangs.”
Pursuing positive changes post-release can be a challenging and even nonexistent without organizations such as Homeboy. Once a prison sentence ends, the consequences of imprisonment begin.
Alison Lass, Global Homeboy Network and Media Relations manager, says she views these consequences as barriers.
“Systematically, we hope to help people eliminate these collateral consequences. We want to help people get their roots so they can stay sober, so they can get a roof over their head, so they can reconnect with their children, so they can have room for connectedness and a job,” Lass says. “It’s important to be able to give people who are marginalized by being formally incarcerated the tools they need so that they don’t recidivate.”
Mario Lundes, assistant manager of Homeboy Café and Los Angeles native, checks the orders on his notes.
Internal growth and healing are evident within the program — more than 80 trainees and members were employed or enrolled in colleges and universities within the last semester, some of whom come back to serve at Homeboy Industries, helping it become one of the most recognized organizations in Los Angeles.
“Unlike other governmental entities where there are expectations or timelines, things are very open-ended and available to a wide breadth of people unconditionally here," Lass says. "Our focus is such that most of the folks that come through our doors have felony records and are really marginalized."
Dr. Tae Sung, director of the Writing Success Center at California Baptist University, has dedicating 30 years of his life to the care, rehabilitation and reform of those imprisoned. He has been a member of the prison ministry for two years and says Homeboy Industries is an incredible organization for rehabilitation services.
Although Sung says he does not oppose appropriate punishment for crimes committed, he also says he sees the shortcomings of the justice system and believes rehabilitation should be the ultimate goal.
“I grew up in a time when attitudes towards crime were very punitive — three strikes and you’re out,” Sung says. “There are stories about people with two counts, and their third could be a misdemeanor and they end up going to prison for 25 to life. I’ve been very critical of those measures. The reason for my criticism is rooted in my faith.
“You hear people always say, you do the crime, you do the time. Nobody disagrees with that. But is the time proportional to the crime? I’m not against people being punished for crimes or having to do time, but does that mean solitary confinement? Does that mean they should have permanent mental damages? What is our ultimate purpose for incarcerating people? Is it to rehabilitate people? Do we believe that it’s possible for them to be redeemed or changed?”
“Some people think people don’t change, and I would say I’m not sure if that’s a view that Christians should take," Sung says. "I’m a huge advocate for prison and criminal justice reform. I think rehabilitation should be the ultimate goal. I believe in restorative justice, not so much punitive justice.”
With aid from organizations such as Homeboy, positive changes can be made within gang and prison culture. It will take time to reform the prison system itself, but by extending a hand to the formerly incarcerated, lives like Huynh’s can change dramatically, and much sooner.
A sign posted on a window of the cafe offers encouraging words from the founder of Homeboy Industries, Father Greg Boyle
