Fr. Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries, which provides hope, training, and support to former gang members and recently incarcerated men and women.
HomeBridge Ventures of Bridgeport, Conn., and Fairfield University’s Center for Social Impact will host An Evening With Fr. Gregory Boyle, S.J., on Thursday, Feb. 29 at 6:30 p.m. at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. This event is free and open to the public; register to attend at quickcenter.com.
Rev. Gregory Boyle, S.J., launched Homeboy Industries in 1988, as a way to help men and women redirect their lives and become contributing members of the East L.A. community. A blueprint for hundreds of global initiatives —including HomeBridge Ventures — the organization has evolved into Global Homeboy Network, the largest and most successful re-entry and gang intervention program in the world.
Organizations within the Global Homeboy Network treat justice-involved people with dignity, giving them hope, and providing employment that changes lives. Programs employ and train high risk youths, former gang members, and the recently incarcerated in a range of social enterprises. They also provide critical educational, vocational, mental health, and legal services to thousands of men and women who walk through their doors every year seeking a better life.
Fr. Boyle will share how Homeboy Industries has grown to achieve this success and how the model is being replicated through the Global Homeboy Network. He will also discuss how Bridgeport’s HomeBridge Ventures is building on the model in ways that respond to the unique strengths and needs of our local community.
"Father Greg and Homeboy Industries have transformed thousands of lives,” said David Stubbs, co-founder and executive director of HomeBridge Ventures. “We at HomeBridge are grateful to be part of the Global Homeboy Network as we look to bring healing, hiring, and hope to the Bridgeport community."
Fairfield University’s Center for Social Impact (CSI) is grateful to HomeBridge Ventures for the invitation to co-sponsor this event. CSI’s mission is to connect the campus with the community to create a more just and equitable world. “The opportunity to partner in hosting Fr. Boyle will surely open the door to conversations about how the University can collaborate in support of HomeBridge Venture’s important work locally,” said CSI Director Melissa Quan, EdD.
Recipient of the California Peace Prize and a member of the California Hall of Fame, Fr. Boyle was named a Champion of Change by President Barack Obama in 2014. In 2017, he received the University of Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal, awarded annually to an American Catholic “whose genius has ennobled the arts and sciences, illustrated the ideals of the Church and enriched the heritage of humanity.”
Father Boyle is the author of the 2010 New York Times bestseller, Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion and the 2017 Los Angeles Times bestseller Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship.
Join us for An Evening With Fr. Gregory Boyle, S.J., at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 29 at the Quick Center for the Arts, located at 1073 North Benson Road, Fairfield, CT 06824. This event is free and open to the general public. Register to attend at quickcenter.com.
