San Francisco: The best city to make things

That cotton T-shirt in your drawer doesn't have anything on custom-printed shirts by Ashbury Images.

The business is part of an organization that helps homeless youth find jobs, and every shirt that comes off the Ashbury line is handled by one of the at-risk kids enrolled in a six-month mentorship program.

The business is small, with only about 20 employees, seven or eight of whom are at-risk youth, ranging in age from 18-22. The program also includes workshops about money or relationship building.

Ashbury has been around for over 25 years, and brings in about $3 million each year. Every shirt sold supports services for youth recovering from homelessness, poverty or substance abuse.

Many customers go to Ashbury for its social mission, and the city of San Francisco channels business its way as well.

The city isn't Ashbury's only fan. New Door Ventures, its parent organization, was awarded a $100,000 grant from Google (GOOG) earlier this year. It will use the money to launch a new initiative to provide even more jobs.