Homeboy Bakery May Rise Again

Four days after fire gutted a Boyle Heights bakery that offered jobs and hope to former gang members, the Catholic priest who started the business said Monday he hopes to reopen at a new location by Christmas.

Father Gregory Boyle of Dolores Mission Church said he wants to relocate Homeboy Bakery because of the high cost of repairing the fire damage in the 70-year-old building that housed the business for seven years.

Fire officials said the blaze, sparked by a short in the building’s ancient wiring system, caused $40,000 damage, but Boyle said it would cost much more to repair the structure and bring it up to current building codes. Instead, the priest said, he hopes to find a factory in the Boyle Heights area where he can reopen with his 11 employees. He said he is not sure how much money to expect from his fire insurance.

But cash donations have been pouring in since the fire swept through the building Friday morning. Supporters from as far away as New Hampshire have donated more than $7,000.

“Hopefully, people will see the value in this,” Boyle said, as bakery workers moved equipment damaged by smoke and water out of the gutted building.

Boyle said he hopes to reopen the bakery by Christmas because that is its busiest time of year.

Several local bakeries have offered to employ some of the ex-gang members until Homeboy Bakery reopens, he said.

The bakery, which opened after the 1992 riots, was the first of six businesses started by Boyle under the banner of Homeboy Industries, a nonprofit, church-affiliated enterprise that employs about 70 young men and women. The businesses include a silk-screen firm, a landscaping company and a merchandising business.

The bakery, located across the street from Dolores Mission Church, had a contract with Frisco Baking Co. of Cypress Park to bake 600 Italian, French and sourdough loaves a day.

Many of its employees had never held a job; Boyle recruited several of his young bakers straight from prison.

Donations can be sent to: Homeboy Industries Fire Fund, 1848 E. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA, 90033