Community

Hawaiian Gardens, Ca

We are headquartered in the city of Hawaiian Gardens where we have both a community church (The Gathering) and a community center where weekly programs are held in the city.

Hawaiian Gardens is an inner-city community in SE LA County, east of Long Beach. According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau Report (2022) about 14,000 people live in the one-suare-mile city making it the smallest in L.A. County.  Nearly 14.4% of those individuals live in poverty and 71% are Hispanic or Latino.  Today more than 70% of the City’s general revenue comes from the Gardens Casino and is the area’s largest employer.

 

Despite its small size, the crime rate is higher than the national average.  In fact, Hawaiian Gardens was the center of the nation’s largest gang investigation and prosecution, in 2009, when more than 200 defendants indicted in the FBIs Operation Knockout. The Way Out started in Hawaiian Gardens in 1984 when the Mexican Mafia was at its most dangerous.  Since that time to present day The Way Out Ministries has consistantly offered the children, youth and adults of this city the opportunity to know Christ and the hope He brings, while offering substantial resources to individuals and families.