Letters: Cash for Homeboy -- money well spent
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Re “Homeboy Industries is a struggling success story,” Column, Jan. 26
While Steve Lopez was interviewing the inimitable Father Gregory Boyle last Wednesday, two of his Homeboy Industries success stories were guiding 50 kids from Venice High School’s POPS club around the premises, telling us the stories of their rebuilt lives.
In two hours, our students — whose lives are touched by prison, with a parent or another loved one inside — were changed forever.
The moment we stepped off the bus and the kids recognized rival gang members and saw them shaking hands, working side by side, their eyes, ears and hearts expanded.
What we adults saw was that one man, Boyle, not only daily changes dozens of lives but is healing our city.
As Lopez points out, in a city that is “home to a Hollywood crowd that congratulates itself for its social conscience,” Homeboy Industries should be flush with cash. It’s time for everyone to pitch in.
Amy Friedman and Dennis Danziger
Los Angeles
In Lopez’s column, Boyle notes the fact that over the last three years, government funding has declined from 14% of Homeboy’s budget to just 3%. Lopez did not receive a helpful comment on supporting Homeboy from L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office, which lobbies Sacramento to obtain state subsidies for the movie industry.
Boyle would make much better use of that money.
In commenting on California’s hurling of money at the film industry, the Economist cited in its Jan. 18 edition a study in Louisiana that found that for every dollar that state received in revenue from film production, it spent $7.29 in credits. I would bet that Homeboy saves us more than $7.
The Economist argued that “schemes” to help filmmakers remain popular because politicians like having their photos taken with movie stars. There should be many politicians who would love to be photographed with Boyle.
David Campbell
Los Angeles
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