The Los Angeles City Council on Friday recognized the work and impact of Homeboy Industries founder Father Greg Boyle by proclaiming a day in his honor.
The dedication at City Hall declared May 19 — his birthday — as Father Greg Boyle Day in L.A. The recognition comes less than two weeks after Boyle was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Biden.
Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez shared a few words before introducing Boyle. “Homeboy Industries has emerged from Father Boyle’s mission to connect formerly incarcerated and gang-impacted individuals to the services they need to reenter and offer them the second chance they deserve,” Hernandez said.
Boyle, a Jesuit Catholic priest, became well known for the social justice work he spearheaded at Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights during the 1980s and 90s. Boyle later founded Homeboy Industries, a non-profit that helps rehabilitate gang members and formerly incarcerated individuals.
Standing alongside Hernandez at the podium, Boyle spoke about the honor and the people he’s served over the years.
“There will never be a day when I have more courage or dignity than these young men and women right here,” Boyle said, referring to the handful of Homeboy members in the room and the hundreds more waiting to get inside City Hall.
“We will leave from this place today to seek to dismantle the barriers that exclude [marginalized] people here in this great city. Thank you,” he added.
Ahead of the commemoration ceremony, a crowd of trainees, staffers, and friends wearing light blue “Homeboy” shirts with the phrase “Fr. Greg Boyle ‘G’ Day” joined a procession from the Homeboy Industries headquarters in Chinatown to City Hall. They had spent the morning celebrating Boyle with cake and lively Mariachi ahead of his 70th birthday on Sunday.
Homeboy trainee Nate Preston, who joined the procession, said Boyle has helped give him a renewed sense of purpose. Preston grew up in the city of Duarte in L.A. County’s San Gabriel Valley and said he’d spent a part of his life incarcerated. Initially skeptical about joining Homeboy, he now views their headquarters as a place where he feels accepted. “In normal society, there’s not many people who can relate to us. This is our community right here. Here there are people you can trust. There’s mutual respect because of our background,” Preston said.
The proclamation by the City Council is particularly momentous for Boyle Heights, where Homeboy Industries was born.
Councilmember Kevin de León, who represents Boyle Heights and other parts of the Eastside, expressed his gratitude to Boyle for decades of service to his constituents. De León also promised Boyle that he would support legislation to create more affordable housing for formerly incarcerated individuals reentering society. “Que vivan los homeboys! Que vivan las homegirls! Que viva Gregory Boyle!” De León said during the meeting.
Margarita Amador, who grew up attending Dolores Mission and still volunteers at the church, remembers Boyle’s contributions to the neighborhood fondly. As a teenager, Amador saw Boyle consistently work alongside church members like her mother and says she still sees Boyle preach at the church occasionally despite his busy schedule.
“Even if his body is tired, he never stops [helping]. He’s unselfish, everything he does is for all of us,” Amador said. “There are never enough ways to show our gratitude for him.”
