In this episode of The Humanity of Homelessness, John sits down with writer, organizer, and former Church at the Park storyteller Sterling Cunio to trace a life that spans suburban Texas, Salem’s streets, nearly three decades in prison, and a surprising new vocation: waging joy in hard places. Sterling reflects on losing his grandmother, becoming homeless as a teenager, committing a serious act of violence, and receiving consecutive life sentences—then describes the interior work that began when a victim’s family member asked him a single, destabilizing question: “Why did you do it?” From that point, he talks about choosing nonviolence without any promise of release, discovering that “doing good felt good,” and being met by a web of community support that eventually opened the prison gates.

Now, as a poet and member of the Ubuntu Commons Initiative, Sterling travels to places like Costa Rica, Washington D.C., and New Orleans, using story and art to help communities imagine systems change grounded in joy, relationship, and shared responsibility. Along the way, he shares what he sees when he walks Salem’s shelters and encampments, why he keeps “adopting” neighbors living outside in every city he visits, and how simple acts—like saying hello to someone on the street—can become small rebellions of hope