Nothing stops a bullet like a job.”
-Homeboy Industries’ Founder Greg Boyle
In 1986 Father Gregory Boyle was assigned to the poorest Catholic parish in Los Angeles, a parish which included the largest public housing project west of the Mississippi and the highest concentration of gang activity. Since the 80s he has put together a program at Homeboy Industries that focuses on mentoring, training and jobs, changing the lives of thousands of men and women over the years.
In our own city, since 2009 when Mayor Ballard introduced the YouthWorks Indy program, we have been providing jobs for young people during the summer months. Today, under Mayor Hogsett, as more and more employers are seeing the short and long term advantages of hiring at-risk youth, these available jobs number in the thousands.
Meanwhile, a study by the University of Chicago found that if you give a high-risk young person a six-week summer job with some targeted mentoring, he or she will be more than 40 percent less likely to be either the target or the perpetrator of gun violence, an effect that lasts more than 15 months after the job ends. Pretty obviously, Father Boyle’s statement turns out to be true–nothing stops a bullet like a job, but employment for youth isn’t a cure-all.
There is no easy answer to the gun violence issue we face in Indianapolis, but we know that most perpetrators are producing income on the streets. One former gang member said this about our potential shooter population: “These guys think they are making lots of money moving drugs, but a greeter at Walmart makes more.” Thing is, people have to eat and they will make money any way they can. It is our challenge to reach these folks with trusted advocates who will lead them to training opportunities so that they can prepare for legitimate jobs and ultimately meaningful careers.
Organizations like Purposeful Design, New Life Development Ministries, Indiana Construction Roundtable Foundation, Goodwill of Central Indiana, and others are leaders in providing this kind of job training in various fields, but with 12,000 reentrants in Marion County every year, we need more training opportunities, and more employers willing to take part, because jobs not only stop bullets, they change the trajectory of lives.
As Father Boyle says, “You can bury your head in the sand, or you can roll up your sleeves.” Clearly our only choice can be to roll up our sleeves.
Blessings,
Jim
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