At first glance, the two groups might have thought they had nothing in common.

The 10 Californians (including one young woman) from Jesuit-founded Homeboy Industries in East Los Angeles were all Latinos who have left behind the gang life, some for years, others for mere months.

The six young men trainees from the Jesuit-run Cafe Reconcile construction training program in New Orleans included at least one who entered the six-week program fresh from the local jail. All were African-American; many were from New Orleans' Central City neighborhood, plagued by violence before Hurricane Katrina and has seen it only escalate since.

But in mid-February, the two groups teamed up to lend a hand to New Orleans' hurricane recovery.

One of the first things the Homeboys did upon arriving in New Orleans was to attend Mass at St. Augustine Catholic Church, founded in 1842 for worshippers of color, both free and slave. It is the oldest African-American parish in the United States.

"The sign of peace went on for about 10 minutes. That was their welcoming to New Orleans," said John Shaw, a Homeboy Industries case manager. "It really opened their eyes."

More eye-opening still was breakfast the next day, when the Homeboys and the Cafe Reconcile crew ate together, as they would all week, in the restaurant's dining room, which is also home to Reconcile's hospitality training program. Some of his group, said Shaw, "had never eaten between two African-Americans at a table, or talked to them."

Cafe Reconcile, a restaurant in the Central City neighborhood that trains and employs at-risk teens and young adults, was established in 1997. It has gone beyond the food business, launching the construction training program.

It was a week of firsts for many of the Homeboys: first plane ride, first time out of Los Angeles, first time away from home. By Friday, the two groups were trading T-shirts and posing for photos together.

They spent the days in between painting walls, cleaning up hurricane damage, building an elementary school playground and touring some of the city's most damaged neighborhoods, including the Lower 9th Ward. The devastation there shocked the group.

The week in New Orleans, said Jesuit Father Greg Boyle, who founded Homeboy Industries in 1988, was transformative. "It was just one of those life changing, wonderful (experiences) that changes their horizons," he said.

In the same way that working with members of rival gangs in the Homeboy bakery or their lawn maintenance operation or the silkscreen operation or at the Homegirl Cafe can help young people learn to humanize their "enemies," so did the New Orleans trip.

Participants found out, Father Boyle said, that "the illusion of the other is just that, an illusion." Not only did they form friendships that are already spanning the miles via e-mail and cell phone, but the 10 from Los Angeles formed bonds that they would not have otherwise known.

"They suddenly find themselves as more family than family," Father Boyle said. "They're joined at the hip now."

On their last morning in New Orleans, Juan Carlos Zamudio, who has been involved with Homeboy Industries since he was 15 years old, reflected on what he had seen. A former gang member who now does gang intervention work with youths in the community, Zamudio, 28, was surprised at how alike his own story and the stories of the young men at Cafe Reconcile were.

"The only difference is you're in New Orleans and I'm in California. We can relate," Zamudio said, adding, "It's a blessing to be here."

The group from Homeboys has met several times since returning to Los Angeles to reflect and meditate on the trip, as they did before departing. They plan to meet weekly from now on and will likely take on more service projects, said Shaw.

They intend "to continue this walk together and build on what happened in New Orleans," Shaw said, noting that one of the men in the group wants to introduce their prayer and breathing exercises to his family at home, something he could never have imagined before.

"Everyone agreed they kind of came back as changed human beings," he said.

---CNS