Non-profit helps former gang members cook up new lives for themselves

LOS ANGELES -- Gordy Abriel never thought he'd become a baker. Until recently, the 26-year-old never thought he'd amount to anything.

Abriel grew up in southern California and joined a gang at just 13 years old. He spent much of his life in juvenile detention and prison.

"I already knew once I got out, that the clock was ticking," Abriel said. "It was only matter of time before I went back in. My whole surrounding was the gang life -- from my aunts, to my uncles, to my cousins, and their friends were all form the gang I got into."

But before leaving prison last year, he learned about Homeboy Industries. The non-profit group rehabilitates former gang members through an 18-month program, giving them jobs at its bakery, café, and restaurants in Los Angeles.

Participants can also get their gang tattoos removed for free. Those enrolled also undergo therapy and can sign up for parenting and job training classes. Up to 15,000 former gang members benefit each year.

"I wanted to start living life instead of surviving," Abriel said. "That's what I started striving for every day. Homeboy Industries does provide a job to you, but the job is second. The thing they want you to do is work on yourself first."

Wearing aprons and hairnets, Abriel and his former gang rivals now stand side-by-side in the kitchen.

"It's just like working with a friend now," Abriel said.

Priest Greg Boyle founded the organization 26 years ago to save lives.

"I started burying kids in 1988, and those were the bad days of shootings all the time," Boyle said. "I buried my 195th last week."

According to the Los Angeles Police Department, L.A. is the "gang capital" of the nation with more than 450 gangs, boasting at least 45,000 members. Boyle says the gang intervention program at Homeboy Industries is the largest in the country -- those enrolled range in age from 16 to 61.

"This place represents to the community an exit ramp off this violent, crazy freeway called gang violence," Boyle said. "Prior to this place, there was no exit ramp."

Kasandra Cruz, 27, found refuge at Homeboy Industries after leaving her gang and serving time in prison. She says the decision to enroll helped her find hope and love. She met Abriel through the non-profit, and they now have a 5-month old daughter and are engaged to be married. Both believe the program transformed their lives.

"It makes me emotional," said a tearful Cruz, who said she didn't think she could turn her life around. "It's a beautiful thing."

This Thanksgiving, the family has one more reason to be thankful. The couple is expecting their second child.

"Homeboy Industries offers that hope to you," Abriel said. "It is a place of hope and a place of healing."