GlobalGiving.org: Help Girls Move from Gangs to Urban Farming in LA

How you can help young women move from gangs to restaurants and urban farming!

Emily Skehan — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:32:49 GMT

Homegirls lead gardening class at Dolores Mission

Homegirl Café & Catering, a division of Homeboy Industries, is a social enterprise assisting high-risk and formerly gang-involved young women, and a few young men to become contributing members of our community through training in restaurant service and culinary arts. Homegirl Café has a one-year training certificate program that empowers women to undertake what is often their first “real job,” while receiving needed services as they work toward a better life. Trainees cycle through three stations; café, catering, and garden & maintenance, while regularly meeting with their case manager to address underlying needs (including mental health, GED preparation and testing, substance abuse, domestic violence, tattoo removal and legal services), and attending weekly classes on life skills, restaurant operations, and management in the café.

By offering a positive alternative to gang life and the accompanying violence, Homegirl Café helps these young women, and now a few young men employed in the Café, to create stronger families, make better choices for themselves, break the cycle of poverty, and increase their self-confidence, making them better leaders and heads of household. With steady employment, job skills training, and mentorship and education for their futures, these women create a generational shift in their families and move away from gang involvement, becoming role models in their families and communities.

As a working restaurant open to the City of Los Angeles, Homegirl Cafe serves as a training facility for our women and men to gain technical skills and develop a sense of self-empowerment through honest and meaningful employment.

Growth and accomplishments: Over the past three years, the Homegirl Café has experienced significant growth and success, with more than 40 young men and women now employed as trainees or as leaders in the café and urban farms. As our employees recognize their strengths and gain experience, many move to “trainer” positions where they are supervisors and mentors for our trainees. There are currently twelve of these female leads in the café. Retention in the café has been consistently over 70%, compared to a 75% recidivism rate for most young offenders in California, and several young men and women have moved to outside employment. The café and its training program, led by Chef Pati Zarate and managers Erika Cuellar and Shannon Smith, have become a model for Homeboy’s other social enterprises.

Homegirl Café has adopted a motto that applies not only to the high quality food that we serve, but also to our approach to mentoring young women as they work toward a better life: “Grow. Prep. Serve.”

Through education about the origins of fresh food, organic food production, composting and local food, we empower our trainees to seek healthy food resources in their own communities as well as encourage their friends and families to join them. As we continue to grow, we look to new initiatives that will strengthen the café and the young people who work within it.

Homegirl Farms

We currently grow a number of high quality seasonal vegetables, culinary herbs and teas at the Homegirl Mini Farm, Solano Gardens, FarmLab, and a school garden at Dolores mission, where Homegirls lead weekly gardening classes with elementary school students. It is our goal to provide as much as 50% of the bulk produce and herbs used by Homegirl Café & Catering and Homeboy Bakery by the end of this training year! By composting almost 100% of our food waste, using only vegetable based plastics, unbleached paper products and by constantly improving our recycling program, we aim to be a leader in sustainable restaurant practices and the evolving urban food movement.

Our vision is strengthened by community partners including Alice Waters of Chez Panisse, Metabolic Studio, Farmworks LA, Milagro-Allegro Community Garden, Dolores Mission Elementary School, Urban Farming, Woolly Pockets and the UC Cooperative Extension.

The goals of implementing an extensive urban farming program as an introduction to café employment are to:

1. Provide a solid connection between the process of growing food and restaurant operations.

2. Increase organic produce production and sustainability for Homegirl Café and Catering and Homeboy Bakery.

3. Enhance culinary practices and café fare through seasonal menu planning.

4. Improve the nutritional habits of employees and their families through garden-based curriculum and agriculture education.

5. Collaborate with local schools to enhance learning and healthy habits through garden education.

6. Utilize horticulture therapy as a means of healthy development and successful reintegration during the parole or probationary period.

7. Establish a viable business and revenue source through garden retail products, edible landscaping and garden maintenance.

8. Provide agricultural job training that can be connected to long term ‘green job’ employment opportunities.

9. Increase the representation of underserved communities in the local food movement and regional food jobs.

10. Play a role in expanding awareness of urban food production for Los Angeles residents through gardening workshops, cooking demonstrations, farm to table events, backyard grower circles and edible landscaping services.

Addressing larger issues of poverty, grocery deserts and obesity is an important component of our urban agriculture effort. As a contributing member of the LA Food Policy Task Force working group, Homegirl Café is constantly seeking ways improve access to local, organic and healthy food for all. Concretely, we seek to empower vulnerable communities through gardening workshops, cooking demonstrations and resources for at risk communities.

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Celebrating 1 year of the Homegirl training program

Emily Skehan — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 17:08:32 GMT

Homegirl Cafe, a division of Homeboy Industries, is proud to celebrate the first year of a formalized training program for gang-impacted young women who seek to change their lives. The training program, which now consists of three stations-- gardening and maintenance, cafe, and catering-- gives women from poor and violence-prone neighborhoods a safe place to learn real skills that will help them support and educate their families, and become leaders in their communities.

More than 35 young men and women now work in the Homegirl Cafe, and those in the training program participate in two month long "externships" and local restaurants, including the Black Cat Cafe, ChopShop, and the Border Grill. Several of our trainees have now been hired in outside positions, and two have enrolled in community college.

Every Monday the café closes early for Women’s Education. The Monday curriculum covers all areas of personal growth including health, financial management, life skills, art, domestic violence, tai chi, boxing, gardening and a variety of other activities. A strong partnership with Peace over Violence has allowed for an ongoing series of domestic violence workshops to take place throughout the years.

After Homegirl Café hours on Thursdays, all training program staff are required to attend classes directed at improved restaurant skills. These classes are made possible by Glendale Community College (GCC). This collaboration started with Mr. Michael Lao, the Director of GCC’s Hospitality & Tourism management program. Mr. Lao conducted 3 pro bono workshops in the areas of Customer Service Skills, Dining Services and Psychology of Guest Services. Mr. Lao continues to conduct workshops covering different topics within the restaurant industry as part of our year-long training program.

This year, the Homegirl Cafe's focus is sustainability. Homegirl Café has added a gardening component that will eventually become a cornerstone of the business. With the aim of becoming a completely sustainable, farm-to-table effort, the Café is expanding this effort with several community gardens and partnerships that will increase both Café involvement in community outreach and workshops, and sustainability within our enterprise. The café now hosts “garden parties” throughout the year, leads community workshops on urban farming, and employs more than 35 young women working toward a better life.

Summer update: how your support helps girls move from gangs to restaurants

Emily Skehan — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 20:33:29 GMT

Homegirl Cafe supports the emotional, educational, and work needs of former female gang members by offering them hands-on training in a safe work environment. Women and girls considered high-risk in Los Angeles County are in desperate need of basic tools and opportunities to improve their lives. By offering a positive alternative to gang life and the accompanying violence, Homegirl Cafe helps these young women and girls, and now young men employed in the Cafe, to create stronger families, make better choices for themselves, break the cycle of poverty, and increase their self-confidence, making them better leaders and heads of households. We strive to find them work, as well as to create an environment where they can find support, grow, and improve their situation.

Homegirl Café trains high-risk young women in all aspects of the restaurant industry, with 12 training stations and a partnership with Glendale Community College, which provides the curriculum for the education program within the year-long training.

We are approaching the ONE YEAR anniversary of the Homegirl Café job-training certificate program!

We are proud of the many accomplishments of our trainees thus far.

a. There are currently 24 trainees in the Homegirl Café program, which now consists of 12 training stations, including gardening, maintenance, line prep, serving, farmers markets, and more.

b. Five Homegirl trainees have been hired outside of the café; one now works at the Black Cat Bakery, one at Chipotle, and three at the Homeboy Diner at Los Angeles City Hall.

c. Two women in the training program are enrolled at Glendale Community College, in the credit campus program for Culinary Arts, and another five at the Garfield non-credit campus for the Hospitality Curriculum.

d. Many of our trainees are also pursuing further education outside of the restaurant industry; one young woman is completing auto mechanic courses at East LA Occupational Center, another is undergoing dental training at UEI, and a third is doing general undergraduate education at East Los Angeles College. Five of our trainees are pursuing their GED at Homeboy Industries.

e. After expressing interest in the gardening station, one of the Homegirl Café trainees completed her master gardener certification at UC Cooperative Extension, and another young woman is a certified Victory Gardener.

f. The “externship” station of the training program has been a great success; one of the young men in the training program has been hired at another restaurant after completing his externship at Greenleaf Gourmet ChopShop, and other trainees have completed or are currently involved in internships at BLD, Café Cito Organico, the Black Cat Café, and the Border Grill. Our hostess is now working one night a week at the Border Grill in order to bring these skills back to Homegirl Café as a trainer.

g. All of the trainees are able to continue life skills and enrichment classes at Homeboy Industries headquarters in addition to the women’s empowerment and hospitality courses that are part of the training program; many have completed parenting, group therapy, and anger management programs at Homeboy Industries.

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A (spring!) update on how your support is moving girls from Gangs to Restaurants in LA

Emily Skehan — Thu, 05 May 2011 16:32:02 GMT

We now have 20 trainees enrolled in the job-training certificate program run by Homegirl Café. The program, formed in partnership with Glendale Community College, started in September 2010 with 14 trainees. The trainees are now cycling through all seven stations; maintenance, garden, back kitchen (including prep and catering), front kicthen, retail, serving (including hosting and running), and an externship at one of our three partnering restaurants- the Black Cat Cafe, Border Grill, and BLD.

In addition, Cafe junior staff, about 20 young women and men, serve as the lead staff partnering with the trainees. The goal is to engage and empower each one with the training, the education and the experience necessary to build a successful career in the food service industry.

All trainees and junior staff are required to attend the weekly four-hour class taught by Glendale Community College faculty from the Culinary, Nutrition and Hospitality Management Program of the Restaurant Management Department. Classes taught on-site at Homegirl Cafe are drawn from this curriculum, and range from personal development to restaurant financing. The objective is to encourage attainment of an A.A. degree, serving as role models to open the doors of possibility offered through further education.

These training stations and the accompanying curriculum allow our women to gain essential job skills, understand sustainable growing, eating, and cooking processes, and support their families while finding a safe "home" community of mentors and peers.

We have some exciting new updates from the last months; the training program has launched Homegirl Café's Backyard Gardens initiative, where Homegirl trainees plant and maintain family and organization gardens to grow organic produce for the café- we have four gardens so far and hope to expand to many more in the upcoming months. The Homegirl Café has also partnered to create a community garden in Central Juvenile Hall, where Homegirls can serve as mentors to incarcerated youth while teaching gardening skills. In the past months Homegirl Café has also brought an exciting new product- smash it ups - to three farmers' markets in Los Angeles: Pershing Square, South Pasedena, and 3rd & Hope, where Homegirls "smash up" seasonal fruits and veggies grown in our gardens into healthy salads and fruit cocktails. At our annual Lo Maximo Awards Dinner, Homegirl Café provided all of the appetizers and "smash it ups" for over 750 guests; at this event we honored this year's Homegirl Hero, Shayna, who now works full time at the Black Cat Café

Homegirl Cafe is thrilled with the launch of Homeboy Chips and Salsa in Ralphs stores all across Southern California, and the release of these products in January 2011 showed a great support for Homegirl Cafe and Homeboy Industries; our products were the highest selling in the deli department at Ralphs for the month!

An Update on how your help is moving girls from Gangs to Restaurants in LA

Mona G. Hobson, CFRE — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 20:05:19 GMT

A homegirl at work!

Homegirl Cafe is dedicated to supporting the work needs of former female gang members by offering them hands-on training in a safe work environment. Women and girls considered at-risk in Los Angeles County are in desperate need of basic tools in order to improve their lives financially and emotionally. By offering a positive alternative to gang life and the accompanying violence, Homegirl Cafe helps these young women and girls, and now young men employed in the Cafe, to create stronger families, make better choices for themselves, break the cycle of poverty, and increase their self-confidence, making them better leaders and heads of households. We strive to find them work, as well as to create an environment where they can find support, grow, and improve their situation.

Homegirl Cafe inaugurated a new job training program and partnership with Glendale Community College on September 1, 2010. Initially, 14 Cafe trainees will progress through a year-long rotation at all Cafe training stations, participate in Los Angeles restaurant internships at Border Grill, BLD with Chef Diana Stavaridis and -- new -- The Black Cat with Nick Coe and Niles Park. We are proud to announce that in February, our first Homegirl intern was hired permanently by the Black Cat Cafe! In addition, Cafe junior staff, about 20 young women and men, serve as the lead staff partnering with the trainees. The goal is to engage and empower each one with the training, the education and the experience necessary to build a successful career in the food service industry.

Trainees will rotate through these sections at Homegirl Cafe, 7 weeks per unit:

Maintenance
Garden, two organic gardens on site at Homeboy and two off-site organic gardens
Back kitchen, including prep kitchen and catering
Front kitchen
Retail including the counter service for bakery and coffee service and cash register, and bussing
Server including host and runner
Restaurant internship, an externship at Border Grill, Nick Coe, and The Black Cat

In addition, all trainees and junior staff are required to attend the weekly four-hour class taught by Glendale Community College faculty from the Culinary, Nutrition and Hospitality Management Program of the Restaurant Management Department. Classes taught on-site at Homegirl Cafe are drawn from this curriculum. The objective is to encourage attainment of an A.A. degree, serving as role models to open the doors of possibility offered through further education. In addition to the training, each of the young men and women at the Cafe also work with Case Managers to obtain a driver's license, clear warrants maintain required appointments with parole and probation, and search for housing as necessary. All this is considered part of their workday, as well as the hands-on training in all aspects of running the Cafe from food preparation, washing dishes, waiting or busing tables, managing inventory, opening and closing to finances.

In the long term, training these youth, primary young women, to manage money, giving them concrete skills and the tools to make a positive change in their lives will enable them to move on into permanent, outside employment, and improve their leadership abilities and overall well-being. By learning to manage their own lives while simultaneously putting practical skills to use on a daily basis through assisting with the financial, interpersonal, and management operations of the cafe, it is our hope that these young women and men will be empowered to become truly independent. Further, the steady, honest work will help them create and maintain stable homes, improving the lives of their children, their families, and their community.

Father Boyle & Homegirl Cafe Staff

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Help Girls Move from Gangs to Restaurant Report

Alison Camacho — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 18:36:33 GMT

Support comprehensive food service training for up to 28 formerly gang-involved young women in full time employment at Homegirl Café, a full service restaurant in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. _________________________________________________________________________________________________

Young women and girls in the at-risk, former gang member and parolee community face particular challenges, as many of them are also young and/or single mothers. It is difficult for them to find employment and many struggle to balance day care needs, managing the family budget, schooling, and work. The strength of these women is their ability to form networks of assistance and to pool together limited resources to cover their basic needs. Many are struggling just to make ends meet, and have limited time or resources to dedicate towards improving their situation. At Homeboy we strive to train them well and help them find positions outside Homegirl Café when ready, but also to create an environment where they can find support, grow, and improve their situation. The chance to maintain a steady job and earn an honest income has been the foundation of Homeboy Industries’ intervention philosophy since its inception, and has time and again proved a foundation to encourage and support change. An integral part of the Homeboy model is the ability to earn an income while also making use of our support services and classes to improve their long-term economic prospects. These resources, including education for a high school diploma or GED, financial literacy, tattoo removal, driver’s ed, parenting, mental health counseling, legal services and case management, are available and are a mandatory part of their program/work day, thus creating a holistic approach to moving out of poverty. By offering multi-level solutions, Homeboy recognizes that leaving gang life is a process, and that re-directing lives in a positive direction strengthens not only the individual, but also that person’s family, enabling them to be leaders and role models themselves. In so doing, they are also providing a more constructive, healthy environment for their children.

Understanding that moving out of a gang and making a positive change in one’s life is an ongoing and often challenging process. Outcomes are measured in a variety of ways; primarily, we measure attendance. A frequent struggle is simply teaching our young women to show up, reliably and on time, every day. It is important to note that our staff are mothers/sisters/primary wage earners in their families, thus the impact on their lives has a ripple effect through their community.

Homeboy is utterly unique in its work as a gang-intervention and re-entry program. We have been fortunate that Dr. Jorja Leap of UCLA’s School of Public Policy and a recognized international expert on gangs and gang-related violence has just completed the second of a five-year longitudinal evaluation of Homeboy Industries. Preliminary themes point to meaningful findings about the effective mechanisms of individual and community change that Homeboy has developed. According to the study’s findings to date, Homeboy has an 70% retention rate as compared to other programs (with some components, not comprehensive services) in which the average retention is about 20%. “The combination of a therapeutic milieu, job development and placement, on-site wrap-around services coupled with an affective environment of attachment and mentoring is,” Dr. Leap states, “unparalleled at a national as well as international level: In my professional opinion, Homeboy Industries, now in its 22nd year, is the preeminent anti-gang agency in the world, serving a population of both at-risk and violent youth who represent a variety of cultures and international communities.”

Our businesses are experiencing continued growth. Homegirl Café is participating in a bid to open a branch in LAX (Los Angeles International Airport). Ralph’s grocery store, specifically the branch in downtown Los Angeles, is now carrying Homegirl Café’s salsas. The hope is to have a larger roll out of products at Ralph’s through out the Los Angeles area.

Homegirl Café currently employees 35 people who rely not only on the support and wages they receive but also on the safe environment and free services available to them at Homeboy Industries. All of this makes working at Homegirl Café and Catering even more meaningful than just being employed. The full array of services, the job training and the life and professional skills learned while “on the job” is invaluable to help in providing hope for the future for many of Homeboy Industries’ clients.

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