Father Gregory Boyle has an ambitious plan to expand Homeboy Industries

Homeboy Industries has long been known for Father Gregory Boyle’s slogan, “Nothing stops a bullet like a job.” But when former gang members and convicted felons walk through the doors at Homeboy headquarters seeking help, Boyle’s ambition goes far beyond just getting them a job. “Most of us have never borne that weight.” Boyle began working to broker peace in his deeply impoverished parish in the 1980s, and later moved his gang intervention program to its current headquarters downtown. “There are no exceptions.” Father Gregory Boyle consoles gang members in February 1990 as they visit a grave. They’re able to inhabit their truth, and that would not have happened in exactly the same way if I had not received that diagnosis.” Boyle, who previously wrote “Tattoos on the Heart,” is working on a third book called “The Whole Language” that he said will focus on “the power of boundless compassion.” The book takes its title from the story of a former gang member from Uzbekistan, nicknamed “Russian Boy,” who did time in SoCal.