ABOUT PROJECT KINSHIP

Hope. Healing. Belonging. Transformation.

Project Kinship is a community based organization that walks alongside people and families impacted by incarceration, gangs, and violence.

We believe people are more than their worst mistake. We honor where people have been while believing in where they can go. A person’s past matters. It can hold pain, lessons, consequences, and accountability. But it does not have to determine what comes next.

At the heart of our work is kinship, the belief that transformation begins with belonging. We walk alongside people with unconditional love, compassion, dignity, and accountability, creating space for people to heal, rebuild relationships, discover their worth, and imagine a different future.



Four team members, two men and two women in navy polos, huddle closely, looking down in shared focus and connection.
Two men, one Black and one Asian, shaking hands and smiling. The Black man wears glasses and a black jacket; the Asian man w…

OUR COMMITMENT

Real Chances

We believe in second chances, but also in first chances. And we are committed to real chances.

Everyone deserves the opportunity to be seen, supported, loved, and given the tools to make healthy choices and build a meaningful life.Real change takes more than being given another chance. It takes relationships, support, accountability, opportunity, and someone willing to walk alongside you.

People may need more than one opportunity to heal, grow, make a different choice, repair what has been broken, and begin again. We are committed to creating real chances for people to transform their lives and become part of transforming their families and communities.

OUR MISSION

Project Kinship’s mission is to provide support and training to lives impacted by incarceration, gangs, and violence through hope, healing, and transformation.

OUR VISION

We envision a world where hope lives and the cycle of despair ends.

OUR STORY

From Rock Bottom to a Movement of Hope

In 1999, a personal journey of incarceration, recovery, and reentry began to shape the vision that would become Project Kinship.

Steve Kim experienced firsthand the challenges of returning home and the pain of being separated from his family. During some of the hardest moments of his life, people chose to see his potential when he struggled to see it himself. Their support, compassion, and belief in his ability to change helped him find a way forward.

That experience shaped a lifelong commitment to serve others.

Steve went on to earn a degree in Criminology, Law and Society from the University of California, Irvine, and a Master of Social Work from the University of Southern California. While at USC, he was deeply influenced by the belief that healing begins with kinship, belonging, and unconditional love.

In 2014, that vision began taking shape with the support of USC colleague Mary Vu. Together, they invested in building a community based organization that would become Project Kinship.

During this journey, Steve was deeply influenced by Father Greg Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries, and his message of kinship and standing with people who have been pushed to the margins. That message helped shape Steve’s belief that healing and transformation begin with relationships, belonging, and unconditional love.

What began as a vision has grown into a community dedicated to helping people and families break cycles of incarceration, gangs, and violence and move toward lives of hope, healing, and purpose.

Two men, one older with a white beard and glasses, and one younger Asian man, smiling together in a memorabilia-filled room.

JOIN US

Join a Community Built on Hope

Transformation happens when people choose to walk alongside one another. Whether you are looking for support, want to volunteer, partner with Project Kinship, or invest in this work, there is a place for you in our community. Together, we can create a future where hope lives, healing is possible, and everyone has a chance to belong.