Jay Pugao's Contact Details

Jay Pugao's Company Details

Homies Empowerment

Oakland, California, United States • 7 Employees
Government Administration

Homies Empowerment is an independent, grassroots community-based organization out of East Oakland. We started as a volunteer-run, Jefferson Award winning, after-school program taking on an approach and a way of seeing gang-impacted youth through an asset-based lens. To provide spaces where youth can heal, thrive and self-actualize, we mirror the positive assets that attract young people to gangs: a sense of belonging, protection, rites of passage, and meeting basic needs. Our after-school program evolved to full-fledged Ethnic Studies and Leadership courses offered throughout Oakland schools. For our first four years of operation, we created a safe space during our weekly Homies Dinners where youth from across gang lines sat together to break bread and came together to participate in youth-led civic engagement programs. As a response to their desire for more spaces like Homies, our team began developing HECHOS, Homies Empowerment Community High for Our Success, a community school for youth who have been pushed out of traditional schools.With the onset of COVID-19, we went from being exclusively a youth-development and educational focused organization to one that stands in solidarity with the entire community to help meet their urgent food and basic needs. Our Block Clean-Up Crew also came together to contribute to a clean and dignified community environment.Currently, in addition to developing HECHOS, Homies is operating our Community Care Center, Learning Center, and several food access programs out of our FREEdom Store: Tuesday food distribution, Love Packages, and Loaves and Fishes.