The Homeboy Way

Kimberly Moore went from a mattress in a crack house to building a $51 million campus in one of Louisville's most violent neighborhoods. The moment that changed everything came when she watched a six-year-old girl get slapped by her mother for saying she was hungry. Kimberly got up, walked out, and went to treatment. She has been sober since 1998. In this episode, Tom Vozzo sits down with Kimb...

When Tom Vozzo stepped down as CEO of Homeboy Industries after thirteen years, he thought he would finally get some peace. What he did not expect was how much he would still need the place and how much it would still need him. In this episode, Tom sits down with founder Fr. Greg Boyle, S.J. to talk about what happens when you stop running an organization but refuse to leave it behind. Fr. Greg adm...

Actor Lauren Tom has spent decades moving audiences through roles in The Joy Luck Club , Friends , Futurama , and more. But in this episode of The Homeboy Way , she joins Tom Vozzo to talk about the story that moved her: Homeboy Industries. After reading Fr. Greg Boyle S.J.’s Tattoos on the Heart and hearing him speak, Lauren knew she had to get involved, even if she didn’t yet know what she could...

George Nunez, Head of Security at Homeboy Industries, spent years in and out of prison. He shut out the world, including his own children, because showing weakness behind bars wasn't an option. Daniel Martinez, a Navigator at Homeboy Industries, asked his parole officer to lock him up again rather than feel like a burden to his brother. Both men walked through Homeboy's doors expecting not...

What does it take to trust again after a lifetime of betrayal? For Karla Leon and Anthony Chairez, both formerly incarcerated and now executive assistants to the Co-CEOs of Homeboy Industries, the answer isn't a pill or a program, it's patience, kinship, and learning how to hug. Karla came home from federal prison to a three-year-old daughter who didn't know her as "Mom." Ant...

What does it mean to be loved without needing to earn it? In this episode of The Homeboy Way , host Tom Vozzo sits down with Fr. Greg Boyle, S.J., founder of Homeboy Industries, for a deeply human conversation about love, humility, recognition, trauma healing, and the kind of kinship that changes lives. Fr. Greg reflects on his birthday at Homeboy, the mariachis, the joy of being celebrated, and t...

When world-renowned trauma expert Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, author of the nine-million-copy bestseller The Body Keeps the Score , walked into Homeboy Industries, he came skeptical. What he found stopped him cold: people leaning into each other like friends. No suspicion. No dominance games. Just open-hearted safety. For a population with histories of violence and gang life, that is "quite rema...

What actually helps people heal? Is it therapy? Medication? Community? A conversation? A job? A second chance? In this special episode for Mental Health Awareness Month, host Tom Vozzo steps back from single transformation stories to look at the through line that makes Homeboy Industries actually work: mental health healing in community. Tom sits down with three sets of voices who have built, shap...

Dr. Bill Resnick first heard about Homeboy through a friend before Homeboy even existed. Years later, after a site visit, reading Tattoos on the Heart , and witnessing Homeboy’s financial crisis, he found his way into the community. In this episode, former CEO Tom Vozzo talks with Bill about moving from donor to volunteer. A psychiatrist in long-term recovery, Bill now leads mindfulness classes at...

In this episode, Tom Vozzo sits down with three remarkable women who have each walked through Homeboy's doors broken and walked out as leaders. Dyamond is now a brand strategist for the Homeboy Way podcast. Angel is a navigator helping new trainees find their footing. Vianka is an academic program coordinator at Homeboy's adult high school. Together, their stories paint a vivid portrait of...

What does it take to reach a kid who’s already been given up on by every system around them? Maria Flores and Gabriel Lopez of Homeboy’s Youth Reentry Center answer simply: show up, stay, and never close the door. In this episode, Tom Vozzo sits down with Maria and Gabriel to explore the reality of working with youth coming out of incarceration and still living in gang violence, generational traum...

Years ago, Homeboy Industries was experiencing financial hardship. In order to make payroll, Melanie and her husband Richard Lundquist received a call from a Homeboy Board member that resulted in a check with no strings attached. No restrictions. Just trust. In this episode, Tom Vozzo sits down with 2026 Lo Maximo KINSHIP Honoree Melanie Lundquist, longtime Homeboy Industries supporter, to uncover...

In this episode, Tom Vozzo sits down with Jose Leon, head barista at Homegirl Cafe. But Jose almost didn’t stay long enough to make a single cup. The first time Jose walked through the doors of Homeboy Industries, he was already planning his exit. Fresh out of rehab and carrying a charge for “fire,” considered worse than murder on the streets, he assumed a place full of gang members could never be...

A Hollywood actor spent years trying to get through the doors of Homeboy Industries. Not as a client. Not as a case manager. Just as someone who felt drawn to a place she did not fully understand. Camilla Belle had heard Father Greg speak at her church, seen the logo around Los Angeles, and had friends on the inside. But she still needed someone to take her by the hand. In this episode, Tom Vozzo...

Imagine your children being taken from your home at gunpoint. That searing, shame-filled moment becomes the catalyst. Not for more destruction, but for a journey that leads you from prison yards to the director’s chair, and eventually, to finding freedom in a sun-drenched square in Barcelona. This is Natalie’s story. In this episode of The Homeboy Way, host Tom Vozzo sits down with Natalie Venegas...

When Robert Valles first walked through the doors of Homeboy Industries, he wasn’t looking for healing. He was looking for a job. After more than fifteen interviews and repeated rejection because of his federal record, he arrived skeptical and unsure of what to expect. What he found instead was something he had never experienced before: a place where people are, in his words, “paid to heal.” In th...

At Homeboy Industries, healing rarely happens through a single method. It unfolds through therapy, community, compassion, and the steady presence of people who care. In this episode, Tom Vozzo sits down with Fr. Greg Boyle, S.J. to explore how healing really happens for people carrying deep trauma. Fr. Greg describes it as the “cumulative dosing effect of cherishing” when someone is consistently s...

Jane Fonda, Oscar-winning actress and lifelong activist, first learned about Homeboy Industries in the 1980s through her then-husband, Tom Hayden. He came home energized by a Jesuit priest who had opened a bakery employing formerly incarcerated gang members. Years later, at a Homeboy gala, she finally heard Father Greg Boyle speak and knew she wanted to be part of something so transformative. In t...

When Tom Vozzo first walked into Homeboy Industries more than 12 years ago, he was skeptical. “Shouldn’t we be doing work here at ‘Industries’?” he wondered, seeing art classes throughout the building. In this episode, Tom sits down with Fabian Debora, Executive Director of the Homeboy Art Academy, and Program Manager Barbara Fant to explore how art reaches wounds words cannot and why creativity i...

In this episode, Tom Vozzo sits down with comedian and podcaster Pete Holmes to talk about faith, belonging, and spirituality. Pete shares how discovering Fr. Greg Boyle, S.J. and Homeboy Industries reshaped not just his theology, but the way he walks on stage. Before performing, he often listens to Father Greg to remind himself that “we belong to each other,” shifting comedy from performance to k...

In this episode, Tom Vozzo sits down with renowned Franciscan priest and author Fr. Richard Rohr to explore the emotional and spiritual journey behind anger, sadness, and healing. Fr. Richard explains why so many people, especially men, get stuck in anger and how that reaction often covers a much deeper sadness. Their discussion naturally connects to the lived experiences at Homeboy Industries, wh...

In this episode of The Homeboy Way, host Tom Vozzo sits down with Homeboy leaders Hector and Stephanie for a raw, unfiltered conversation about policing, childhood trauma, and the long road from survival to kinship. Through deeply personal stories, they explore how early encounters with law enforcement shaped fear, anger, and identity and how Homeboy Industries created a radical alternative: a pla...

Smitty did not come to Homeboy Industries looking for a job or a title. He came looking for his daughter. After incarceration and a painful separation from his child, he arrived at Homeboy for parenting classes, hoping to rebuild his family. What he found was a place where people were allowed to be human, to heal, and to grow without judgment. In this episode of The Homeboy Way, Tom Vozzo sits dow...

In this episode of The Homeboy Way , host Tom Vozzo sits down with Fr. Greg Boyle, S.J., founder of Homeboy Industries, to unpack one of the most pervasive challenges for those who come through Homeboy's doors: substance abuse. Drawing from decades of experience, they explore how addiction often serves as self-medication for unhealed trauma, why people numb pain when forced to "excavate w...

Miguel Lugo came to Homeboy Industries looking for help removing a chest tattoo that had defined his violent past and kept him trapped long after prison. After serving 18 years behind bars, starting at age 18, Miguel walked through Homeboy’s doors just days after his release. He stood outside for hours, unsure if he was ready to let go of the identity that once kept him alive but was now holding h...