Homeboy Industries, a nonprofit rehabilitation center for former gang members founded 20 years ago by Father Gregory Boyle, a parish priest in the Boyle Heights neighborhood near downtown, just opened a spacious new bakery and a training and job development center.

The fourth location opened since 1988, the new building includes tattoo removal, counseling, and classes in financial literacy, decisions for healthy living, computer basics, anger management, and Alcoholics Anonymous.

In a county famous for its 86,000 gang members, Boyle hopes to change the enforcement-only model, by holding tight to his maxim that "nothing stops a bullet like a job."

Begun as a community program based out of a small parish for eight local gangs, Homeboy has expanded to include more than 600 gangs across Los Angeles County.

The enterprise now includes the new 5,000-square-foot bakery (with a cafe coming soon), a silk screening operation that prints logos on apparel and merchandise, and a landscaping and graffiti-removal service. Homeboy Industries employs about 250 former gang members and at-risk youths—most of whom start by earning minimum wage and slowly work their way up. Officials say they reach out to 600 gangs, offering services to about 1,000 people from 45 different ZIP Codes. The organization operates on a yearly budget of about $4.8 million, three-quarters of which comes from foundations, grants, and individual contributions, and the remaining $1.2 million from sales of goods and services.