Hope Has an Address, and Now It Has the LA28 Emblem
The Games are for everyone, and Homeboy Industries is showing what that looks like
At Homeboy Industries, they like to say "hope has an address." Last week, LA28 came to that address to celebrate a new licensing agreement that makes Homeboy the first local small business licensed to produce official LA28 apparel and accessories. LA28 also used the occasion to announce Made for Two-Eight, a new licensing program that will give more small businesses the chance to put the LA28 emblem on products designed, sourced and made in Los Angeles County.
Father Greg Boyle founded Homeboy in 1988 to give former gang members in East Los Angeles a way forward. It has since become the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation and reentry program in the world, according to the organization. Each year Homeboy welcomes more than 10,000 people looking for healing and a second chance. Its approach combines support services, a therapeutic community and paid work. Trainees run its social enterprises, including the bakery, Homegirl Café, catering, a farmers market and a silkscreen and embroidery shop. They learn job skills while making things Angelenos love.
For the men and women at Homeboy, the agreement means something bigger than a product line. The apparel and accessories they help create will be in the hands of fans from around the world in 2028.
"We are honored that Homeboy Industries will be crafting official merchandise for the 2028 Games," said Father Boyle. "This will give our folks a global stage to showcase their talents. But the real beauty of this moment is that it doesn't stop with us. Through Made for Two-Eight, LA28 is expanding this exact same opportunity to neighborhood businesses all across our region."
The partnership started over coffee. Three years ago, LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover sat down with Homeboy Co-CEO Steve Delgado at Homeboy Industries. Their question was simple: how do we make sure the Games create real opportunities for community businesses? Homeboy's agreement is one answer. Made for Two-Eight is how LA28 plans to bring that answer to small businesses across LA County.
"We want to make sure that millions of visitors buy a souvenir, and when they do buy that souvenir, that they're really taking home a piece of real LA culture made right here by our own creators," said Hoover.
The first collaborative design came from Fabian Debora, an artist who founded the Homeboy Art Academy. It features a torch in honor of Father Greg carrying the Olympic flame through Los Angeles in 1984.
"The flame of the torch signifies the internal fire of healing and transformation that takes place at Homeboy Industries," said Debora. "Healing, Fr. Greg, Homeboy Industries and the torch, all beacons of light here in the City of Angels."
Mayor Karen Bass joined Father Greg and Hoover in celebrating a Games whose benefits aim to reach every neighborhood. A recent LAEDC report projects the Games could generate up to $40 billion in economic output for the region. With less than two years to go, Made for Two-Eight and LA Authentic, LA28's local food vendor program, are designed to create paths for expansion for community businesses.
Father Greg summed it up simply: "The Games are for everyone."
