Homeboy Industries Launches New Business in Pasadena

Homeboy Industries, the world’s largest gang intervention and rehabilitation program, will celebrate the grand opening of Homeboy Puppy Fades dog grooming salon in Pasadena on Monday.

The new social enterprise has created employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals who received animal care training while in detention, representing the organization’s 14th business venture and second in Pasadena.

“We are always exploring social enterprises, what we think will have great interest among our population here. And a great many of folks who’ve been locked up have been trained in detention facilities to be engaged in dog grooming and such. So it seemed like a natural fit,” said Fr. Gregory Boyle, Founder of Homeboy Industries.

The salon is staffed by graduates of Homeboy Industries’ 18-month reentry training program.

Every member of the grooming team is professionally certified, and the salon is already receiving five-star ratings during its soft opening, demonstrating both its market viability and the success of Homeboy’s rehabilitation model.

Located near Old Pasadena at 446 S Fair Oaks Avenue,  Homeboy Puppy Fades builds on the organization’s previous investment in the city through its partnership with Tepito Coffee, announced in August last year.

Father Boyle described how the grooming team members feel a natural connection to the pets.

“They have kind of an affinity where they just know they connect so easily to animals. And that’s always been true for our folks. And so again, there’s just a connection and a visceral connection between the homies and vulnerable small animals. They know what their vulnerability is about.”

Founded in 1988, Homeboy Industries has evolved from dispatching former gang members to external jobs to creating its own social enterprises. The organization has grown into a $44 million nonprofit with businesses including bakery, café, catering, merchandise sales, farmers markets, silkscreening, and recycling operations.

“This place is above all and primarily a place of healing. So once people have experienced some kind of essential foundational healing, then they’ll never go back to prison. Education helps and employment helps, but the healing is the primary thing,” Father Boyle explained.

“Hope has an address, is what we say around here,” said Father Boyle.