The Homeboy Way

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...

How do you build a business that puts healing, culture, and opportunity first while still making a profit? In this episode of The Homeboy Way, Tom Vozzo sits down with Tepito Coffee co-owners Jose Arellano, Vice President of Operations at Homeboy Industries, and Mike de la Rocha, co-founder of Revolve Impact, to discuss social enterprises, specifically the challenges and successes of running Tepit...

How do you run a real business when your primary mission is healing, kinship, and transformation? In this episode, Tom Vozzo is joined by Homeboy Industries Co-CEO Steve Delgado and longtime advisor Gayle Northrop to explore the social enterprises at the heart of Homeboy. Their conversation centers on people, not products. People coming home from prison. People who have never held a formal job. Pe...

In this episode, Tom Vozzo sits down with Hector Verdugo and Jose Arellano to uncover what real transformation looks like when it rises out of pain, survival, and the quiet moments no one ever sees. Their journeys begin in places shaped by violence, incarceration, addiction, and childhood wounds carried for decades, but something unexpected happens the moment they walk through Homeboy’s doors: the...

For decades, the team at Homeboy Industries has stood witness to a quiet revolution. Lives are rewritten not through force, judgment, or programs alone, but through the slow, steady practice of kinship. In this episode, Tom Vozzo is joined by Hector Verdugo and Shirley Torres to reflect on the stories that have shaped them as much as the people living them. Day after day, people walk into Homeboy...

In this episode, former Homeboy Industries CEO Tom Vozzo sits down with three powerful voices from the Homeboy community: Fabian, Sergio, and Jose. Together, they explore what it truly means to awaken spiritually, especially in the middle of suffering, trauma, addiction, incarceration, and generational pain. While Homeboy is often celebrated for its job programs and re-entry success, the real tran...

In today’s episode of The Homeboy Way, Tom Vozzo and Fr. Greg Boyle, S.J. delve into the hidden weight of the labels society places on people. They revisit pivotal moments in Homeboy’s history, recalling times when homies were swiftly branded as “bad” or “evil,” and how those judgments shaped everything that came after. Through these reflections, Father Greg illustrates how behaviors rooted in tra...

In this episode of The Homeboy Way, Tom Vozzo sits down with Fr. Greg Boyle, S.J., the founder of Homeboy Industries, to unpack Homeboy Industries’ long and complicated relationship with government agencies. Fr. Greg reflects on how Homeboy went from reviled to revered, yet still receives little public funding, while Tom recalls early encounters with officials who believed they could do Homeboy’s...

In this episode of The Homeboy Way, Tom Vozzo sits down with Dr. Robert K. Ross, former CEO of The California Endowment, for a powerful conversation about healing, justice, and what it means to truly see people living at the margins. Reflecting on decades as a pediatrician, public health leader, and philanthropic executive, Dr. Ross revisits the moments that shaped his path from the crack epidemic...

In this episode, Homeboy Industries Co-CEO Shirley Torres and longtime Clinical Director Fajima Bedran join Tom Vozzo, former CEO of Homeboy Industries, to discuss what truly transforms lives: healing. While Homeboy is widely known for its job programs and re-entry success stories, Father Greg Boyle recognized years ago that the real work lies in healing trauma. Each trainee has endured layers of...

Dr. Frank Anderson shares the science of healing and how it connects to the Homeboy way of kinship. Dr. Frank Anderson, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist, trauma expert, and best-selling author, breaks down the science and spirituality of trauma healing and how it connects to the work of Homeboy Industries. We discuss why trauma is externally defined while PTSD is a personal response, the difference...