Philstar.com
September 9, 2024 | 10:45am
MANILA, Philippines — Holistic healing and well-being center Integra Wellness Center partners with Ateneo Gokongwei Brothers School of Education and Learning Design (GBSEALD) to inspire Filipinos with the stories and lessons of Fr. Greg Boyle, a recent US Presidential Medal of Freedom awardee.
Fr. Boyle is the renowned Jesuit founder of Homeboy Industries, the world’s most extensive gang intervention, rehabilitation and re-entry program. He will give a talk, organized by Ateneo GBSEALD, on “Choosing Hope: Stories from Homeboy Industries” on September 6, 9 a.m., at the Hyundai Hall, Ateneo Areté, which will be livestreamed through GBSEALD’s official Facebook and YouTube pages.
He will also facilitate “The Power of Boundless Compassion: A Spirituality of Radical Kinship” retreat at Rosary Hills, Silang, Cavite from September 6 to 8. Interested participants may visit www.facebook.com/fr.greg.mnl for more details.
Integra Wellness Center has invited Fr. Boyle to the Philippines in pursuit of its commitment to guide individuals toward holistic growth that sparks hope and uplifts communities. Fr. Boyle founded Homeboy Industries in 1988 in Los Angeles during the “decade of death,” a time of escalating gang violence.
Instead of the prevailing strategies of suppression and mass incarceration, Fr. Boyle and his community chose to treat gang members as human beings capable of change, quite a radical approach.
Today, the organization supports over 10,000 former gang members rebuilding their lives, offering various services, including counseling, tattoo removal, legal assistance and job training. Homeboy Industries, a $40-million enterprise with 13 social businesses such as Homeboy Bakery and Homegirl Café, continues to play a pivotal role in building safer and healthier communities in Los Angeles.
Most recently, Fr. Boyle was conferred the 2024 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’ highest civilian honor, by President Joseph Biden. The Los Angeles City Council issued a proclamation establishing May 19 as Father Greg Boyle Day. He has received the California Peace Prize and has been inducted into the California Hall of Fame.
President Barack Obama named him a Champion of Change in 2014 and was awarded the 2017 University of Notre Dame Laetare Medal, the most prestigious honor given to American Catholics. In 2020, Homeboy Industries won the Hilton Humanitarian Prize, recognizing the organization’s work for over three decades.
Similar to how Homeboy Industries addresses the problem of violence by helping gang members liberate themselves from their past, Integra assists individuals in releasing trauma, reprogramming their minds and bettering themselves through its services.
“At Integra, individual transformation is critical to community transformation. Personal healing creates a ripple effect, positively impacting families, neighborhoods and society by breaking the cycles of trauma and violence,” Elaine Kahn, founder of Integra Wellness Center, said.
“In my visits to Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, I witnessed firsthand the profound impact of Fr. Boyle’s work on transforming individuals through compassion, which resonates deeply with our values at Integra,” she added.
Integra Wellness Center promotes physical, emotional and spiritual well-being through its Conscious Rebirth Program, Self-Mastery Coaching, Ayurvedic therapies and other customized holistic wellness programs. For more information, visit www.integrawellbeing.com or www.facebook.com/integrawellbeing.
For more information on Ateneo GBSEALD and their programs, visit http://www.ateneo.edu/gbseald.
Editor’s Note: This press release is sponsored by Integra Wellness Center. It is published by the Advertising Content Team that is independent from our Editorial Newsroom.
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