An internationally renowned speaker and advocate for the social inclusion of former gang members and people who have served prison sentences is set to visit Belfast next week.
American priest, Father Gregory Boyle, will be in Belfast from May 13-15 as a guest of Belfast-based charity The Turnaround Project.
The charity helps people who have served prison or community sentences to turn around their futures.
Fr Boyle, and two senior colleagues from Homebody Industries, will take part in events aimed at sharing the story of Homeboy Industries and at promoting ‘transitional employment’ as an effective approach to helping people move away from the justice system.
Fr Boyle founded Homeboy Industries in 1980s in an effort to tackle soaring levels of gang-related violence and killings in Los Angeles. The organisation has gone on to become one the largest gang-intervention programmes in the world, working with over 1,000 people a year.
Richard Good, director at The Turnaround Project, said: “For many people leaving the justice system, finding and sustaining a job can be a real challenge. But it’s in everyone’s interests that society works together to lower the barriers that people face on their journeys away from the justice system.”
The Turnaround Project is best known as a provider of transitional employment opportunities, and over the last two years has created two social enterprises, Outwork and Big Loop Bikes.
Both enterprises employ people for up to 12 months, in preparation for them moving onto conventional employment. The charity also provides transitional employees with coaching and guidance on how they can use their past experiences to turn around their futures.
