Help women leave gang life at the Homegirl Cafe!

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