LA's Homeboy Industries celebrates 35 years of helping former gang members transform their lives

BOYLE HEIGHTS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Homeboy Industries is continuing its decades-long efforts to help former gang members transform their lives.

On the anniversary of the organization's flagship enterprise, Homeboy Bakery, Father Gregory Boyle is reflecting on their success.

"Homeboy is 35 years old," said founder Father Gregory Boyle. "We began by just hiring members of the eight gangs in the Dolores Mission parish, the two housing projects, and then, we couldn't find enough 'felony-friendly' employers, so we just started things like maintenance crews, a landscaping crew."

He said it was after the 1992 Los Angeles uprising that a movie producer read about the group's projects and asked how he could help.

"I said, 'Buy this abandoned bakery across the street from our school and fix the ovens and we'll put hairnets on, rival gang members, and we'll call it Homeboy Bakery,'" recalled Boyle. "Literally, that was my business plan."

Cynthia Zuno-Godinez has been part of the Homeboy community since 2011.

"I came into Homeboys to try and find a job," she said. "I started off doing janitorial, and it's been 12 years, and now I'm the director of bakery operations."

Zuno-Godinez oversees more than 65 employees in the bakery, Homeboy's farmer's markets and their e-commerce line.

"The wholesale part, the retail part ... It's just about empowering the next person, giving them the tools that they need. It definitely feels good," she said.