Project Kinship

Since our founding in 2014, the mission of Project Kinship (PK) has remained the same: to provide support and training to lives impacted by incarceration, gangs, and violence through hope, healing, and transformation.

Project Kinship is an organization founded and staffed by justice-impacted individuals to credibly and compassionately support and train youth and adults impacted by incarceration, gangs, and violence. Our Co-Founder/Executive Director Steven Kim was incarcerated, and upon his release he faced severe barriers to re-entry, education, and employment. At his lowest point, he met community members who walked him back to hope. He went on to earn a bachelor's degree from University of California, Irvine, in Criminology and a master's degree in Social Work. In one of his classes over twenty years ago, he heard Father Greg Boyle S.J. of Homeboy Industries speak and became determined to create a similar re-entry nonprofit in Orange County.

Today, we are the Orange County sister agency to Los Angeles-based Homeboy Industries. Over the course of 11 years, we have grown from a four person staff to having 150 employees; 40% of whom are formerly incarcerated. Our core, comprehensive programs are designed to meet participants wherever they are at on their journey: whether they're at-risk, in-custody, or returning to their communities from jail or prison. We envision a world where hope lives and the cycle of despair ends.

As a long-standing and trusted re-entry nonprofit in Orange County, PK has grown from having four employees to now being staffed with 150 members. In May 2025, we moved from our 8,000 square foot building to our 17,500 square foot headquarters, more than doubling our square footage and massively expanding our service capacity. Last year, we provided support and training to 14,826 youth and adult participants through our core, comprehensive programs.

Our programs address a pressing need in our community — the shortage of wraparound services led by formerly incarcerated peer navigators and credible messengers who can credibly provide a continuum of care that meets at-risk and justice-impacted youth and adults wherever they are on their journeys. While more than “610,000 potential job candidates are released from state and federal prisons” annually (United States incarceration rate. Wikipedia, 2025), formerly incarcerated individuals are five times more likely to be unemployed (U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 2024). This contributes to a devastating cycle of recidivism in which “82% of formerly incarcerated individuals” are arrested again within ten years (Prison Policy Initiative, 2022).

Children and youth ages 18 years old and younger are very vulnerable to the effects of gangs, neighborhood violence, and being impacted by the justice system. Additionally, the after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic contribute to young people and their families experiencing housing challenges, family instability, economic insecurity, and other difficulties that increase the likelihood of Orange County youth being affected by incarceration, gangs, and violence. In Orange County, the high school dropout rate is rising to near pre-pandemic levels, the number of Orange County student experiencing housing insecurity has increased over the past decade, and the “combined hospitalization rate for serious mental illness and substance use conditions for children increased by 66.8%” between 2015 and 2023 (The 31st Annual Report on the Conditions of Children in Orange County, 2026).

Orange County, South Los Angeles County

Early in my journey, a mentor named Ruben shared a story that has stayed with me. His father wept the day Ruben received a certificate from Project Kinship and Chapman University. Through tears, he told his son, “I never stopped believing you were going to be somebody, even when you said you’d be in prison for life. Now you’re home, you’re serving the community, and you proved me right.” That moment underscored the profound impact of having even one person believe in you—especially when you’ve lost faith in yourself.

Many who come to us grew up with unprotected childhoods that left lasting wounds, carrying trauma into adulthood that most will never see. And yet, people like Ruben remind us of the resilience and possibility that emerge when compassion and community come together. At Project Kinship, we see this transformation every day—not because people are “fixed,” but because they are reminded of their worth. They come to know they are not alone, and that their lives carry immeasurable value.

I worked as an aerospace engineer for 40 years, but when I retired, I started working with young people who had seen difficult times with the judicial system, and also with the unhoused community. I was introduced to Steve Kim and Project Kinship by Father Greg Boyle, the founder of Homeboy Industries, when I was seeking partners to work on tattoo removal for the unhoused.

From my very first meeting with Steve, I fell in love with PK’s vision, strategy, and implementation of the re-entry and diversion work. The Project Kinship diversion work supports at-risk young people by walking with them through their most difficult times whether in the community, in the schools, or in juvenile hall. Intervening early can prevent life-long issues for both the young people, their families, and the community. I fully support the work of Steve Kim and the Project Kinship Leadership team. I highly recommend that you consider financially supporting their work. I’m happy to speak with anyone interested in the work of Project Kinship.