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I value what Homeboy Industries is doing and I respect the people who are participating in their programs and trying to turn their lives around. I wish them not

I value what Homeboy Industries is doing and I respect the people who are participating in their programs and trying to turn their lives around. I wish them nothing but success. That said, it isn't a normal job training program. If you had a friend with no criminal record who was looking for work, I doubt you send him to Homeboy Industries in order to get job training. Ray was in prison, but he isn't someone trying to turn his life around after falling in with gangs or crime. He was a Sergeant in the U.S. military who had his freedom taken for no reason. He has just been forced to spend 11 years of his life with people from backgrounds that led them into the criminal-justice system. Some of them are good people, others are not. But none of them came from the same circumstances as Ray, a man who risked his life for our country and never did anything to society for which he needs to atone. I will certainly tell him about Homeboy Industries and let him make his own decisions. But I think it's totally reasonable if, after being forced to spend 11 years surrounded by convicts, he now chooses to seek out situations where he will be able to spend time around "normal" folks.

Mz 10y ago
This is something I understand completely. My "crime" was being born with the wrong genes. My genetic disorder has closed a lot of doors for me, in spite of my strong academic background. I also think many programs to help such people do a lot of things inherently badly, so are often a bad idea, even if you need reform. My experience with homelessness has been that a lot of programs can be really detrimental to one's long term success. I already left links to a couple of my sites in another comment. I will also suggest panning for gold as a potential path forward. You can set your own hours. The only human interaction required is finding a buyer, and I know an online site if he is interested. It can pay decently. I don't quite know what else to say. It has been a long day and I am tired. If he is interested, I would rather discuss it (panning for gold) further privately. You are doing a good thing. Unfortunately, most people you speak with will not see what you see: That he doesn't need reform because his life was stolen from him. Most people just won't really get it. So, trying to find good answers will be challenging. My hat is off to you.

Mz 10y ago

This is something I understand completely. My "crime" was being born with the wrong genes. My genetic disorder has closed a lot of doors for me, in spite of my strong academic background. I also think many programs to help such people do a lot of things inherently badly, so are often a bad idea, even if you need reform. My experience with homelessness has been that a lot of programs can be really detrimental to one's long term success. I already left links to a couple of my sites in another comment. I will also suggest panning for gold as a potential path forward. You can set your own hours. The only human interaction required is finding a buyer, and I know an online site if he is interested. It can pay decently. I don't quite know what else to say. It has been a long day and I am tired. If he is interested, I would rather discuss it (panning for gold) further privately. You are doing a good thing. Unfortunately, most people you speak with will not see what you see: That he doesn't need reform because his life was stolen from him. Most people just won't really get it. So, trying to find good answers will be challenging. My hat is off to you.