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 pain, childhood abuse, foster care, incarceration, addiction, and the mission is not just to ease their misery but to help them become whole.

Shirley, Fajima, and Tom explain that healing at Homeboy extends beyond therapy rooms and happens in hallways, morning meetings, and even on the dance floor. Therapy is integrated into everyday life, with community-based counseling and cutting-edge modalities like EMDR and neurofeedback. Through stories of transformation, Shirley and Fajima illustrate how Homeboy’s therapeutic community fosters joy, suffering, and, most importantly, belonging, which they believe is the first and most essential form of medicine.

Key Takeaways

• The Community is the Clinic

  Where traditional therapy can be sterile, Homeboy’s healing is woven into its fabric through a tap on the shoulder, a shared dance, or a repaired relationship. This community builds the trust necessary for deep clinical work.

• Healing the Wound, Not Just the Behavior

  Systems often focus on changing behavior. Homeboy’s model digs deeper to address the underlying complex trauma and pain, the why behind the behavior, so people can stop transmitting their pain.

• From "Fixing" to "Accompanying"

  The goal is not to "save" people, but to walk with them, repair ruptures, and hold the door open. As Shirley says, the staff are "hope in the flesh," living testaments that transformation is possible.

In This Episode:

• 03:21 – Whole-person healing and cultural roots of care

• 03:40 – Mental health counseling the Homeboy way

• 07:36 – Building a therapeutic community

• 15:44 – Post-pandemic challenges and psychiatric care

• 19:14 – Dancing, joy, and the power of community

• 22:06 – Father Greg’s philosophy and trauma-informed leadership

• 27:01 – What “trauma-informed” means at Homeboy

• 30:31 – Staying hopeful amid pain and transformation

Notable Quotes

• “We stand with people and we invest in them fully. That means making sure we don't surrender to people just being less miserable.” — Shirley [01:52]

• “It's the sessions plus the community. That's what makes way for when people are in front of us when they get into therapy.” — Fajima [06:54]

• “Joy and suffering coexist. There's that spaciousness. And I think that's such an important belief people love.” — Shirley [19:39]

• “We're not saving people. You're also saving yourself. And we're in this together.” — Fajima [27:23]

About Our Guests

Shirley Torres is the Co-CEO of Homeboy Industries, a role she stepped into after over two decades of leading and architecting its programmatic and healing services. She is a driving force behind the organization's trauma-informed culture and its focus on whole-person transformation.

Fajima Bedran is the Director of Mental Health at Homeboy Industries, a licensed clinician who has been with the organization for 20 years. She has been instrumental in integrating advanced, evidence-based clinical practices like EMDR and neurofeedback to address complex trauma within the Homeboy community.

Resources and Links

Homeboy Industries

• https://homeboyindustries.org/

• https://www.youtube.com/@HomeboyIndustries_LA/videos

• Donate: https://homeboyindustries.org/donate/donate-online/

Homeboy Media 

• https://homeboyindustries.org/social-enterprises/homeboy-media/

Shirley Torres

• http://linkedin.com/in/shirley-torres-1a9516a2

Thomas Vozzo

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasvozzo

• The Homeboy Way: A Radical Approach to Business and Life: https://www.amazon.com/Homeboy-Way-Radical-Approach-Business/dp/082945456X

Credits:

Hosted by: Tom Vozzo

Produced by: Podify, and Alexa Rousso and Melody Carter of Homeboy Media