I WAS HOMELESS | Living Through Loss, Addiction, and Survival on the Streets

What does homelessness really look like when you stop talking about people and start listening to them? In this episode of From Behind This Chair, the conversation moves past statistics and stereotypes and into lived experience. Men who have survived years on the street speak openly with host Anthony "Doc" Hamilton about dignity, brotherhood, faith, addiction, loss, and the moments that kept them going when everything else was stripped away. Through shared stories, tears, laughter, and quiet truths, this episode asks harder questions: Who do we see? Who do we ignore? And what does it mean to belong when the world has already decided who you are? This isn’t 'shop talk', it's a communion.

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00:00 Cold open, resilience, prison number, promise to learn to read 01:07 Introductions and Barry’s discovery of Doc’s story 03:02 From struggle to author, listening past fear 04:13 Mr Pierre’s roots, values, and why he supports Doc 06:05 Rock bottom, haircut hustle, and a night unhoused 10:32 Message to family, reach out while you can 10:47 Michael Love’s background, San Quentin time, choosing change 16:03 East Palo Alto upbringing 17:31 “ML” nickname, myths, and the moment that changed everything 21:02 One punch, 21 year sentence, owning the fear caused 22:04 Stereotypes, literacy, and doing people with dignity 23:29 Doc’s literacy journey, 26 years not reading 26:43 Tributes to mothers, faith, recovery, and hard lessons 30:17 Doc’s ICU season and loss 33:20 Now housed, still helping others 38:04 Advice for anyone unhoused