Episode transcript
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and readability.
Meet Kevin and Jeff Hamilton
Jaime Buxton: Have you ever looked at someone’s life and thought, “I wonder how they got there.” Maybe it’s a woman standing at an intersection, a man panhandling after a sporting event. Maybe it’s that same child dropped off at school every day, hungry and disheveled. But what if our knee-jerk reaction is wrong? What if those things that we so quickly think and judge about others is actually not what we think? This is the Not That Different podcast where we look at the stories behind the statistics.
Because I believe when we really lean in and we really listen, we’re going to find something surprising, that we’re really not that different from people experiencing homelessness. In today’s episode, I’ve got two of my favorite colleagues, Kevin and Jeff Hamilton, two brothers who work here in the ministry at The City Mission, but who’ve also been through this program. I’m ecstatic to share their stories with you. And we’re going to jump right in.
Hi guys.
Kevin Hamilton: Hello.
Jeff Hamilton: Hi. How are you?
Jaime Buxton: All right. Well, the way I want to just get started is just tell people who you are. So, let’s just introduce ourselves and what you do now at the mission.
Kevin Hamilton: Okay. My name is Kevin Hamilton and I’m an RA at the mission and we man the booth at night. I work third shift and I watch the buildings.
Jaime Buxton: Yeah.
Kevin Hamilton: Mhm.
Jaime Buxton: What does RA mean?
Kevin Hamilton: Resident assistant.
Jaime Buxton: Resident assistant. Right. And so it’s basically security, but so much more than that.
Kevin Hamilton: Yes, it is.
Jaime Buxton: Right.
Kevin Hamilton: Yes.
Jaime Buxton: And how long have you been doing that, Kevin?
Kevin Hamilton: May 1st would be 21 years I’ve been here at the mission.
Jaime Buxton: I can’t believe it. I know. It’s my anniversary, too. All right. And Jeff?
Jeff Hamilton: Me? My name is Jeff Hamilton. I started out as a resident assistant when I first started. I’ve been here now seven years, but I now do custodial and maintenance. But every now and then I do go to Laura’s Home and I do RA activities there.
Jaime Buxton: Yeah. So, for our listeners who again maybe aren’t that familiar with The City Mission, we’re here in Cleveland. Today, right now, it’s our administrative office where we’re actually at, if you’re watching this podcast. But we have a main campus in the Midtown area where we serve men, and then on the other side of Cleveland, we serve women and children. Both of these guys predominantly work at Crossroads Men’s Crisis Center, right? But we all do whatever we’re called to do, right?
Okay. Well, like I said, both of you work full-time here. You’re part of this ministry. I love getting to work with both of you, and both are in different capacities. But both of you have also been residents through our program. So, we’re going to start with you, Kevin, because you went through the program first.
Kevin Hamilton: I did.
Kevin’s journey through The City Mission
Jaime Buxton: So, rewind for us. What year is it and what brought you to the mission? Kind of, you know, give us all the details.
Kevin Hamilton: Okay. I was released from prison and was paroled here in November of 2002. I had heard about the program in the mission through the county jail. Brent Richards one of the chaplains here at the mission. He was doing Bible studies there and I actually was a part of his Bible study. He invited me to come here. I did do jail time and he corresponded with me the whole time and in 2002 I was paroled here and that’s where my journey started.
Jaime Buxton: Yeah.
Kevin Hamilton: Mhm.
Jaime Buxton: What was it like? You know, I mean I can’t imagine what it’s like being released from prison. How long were you in prison?
Kevin Hamilton: 5 years.
Jaime Buxton: Five years. So it I mean this wasn’t just a small stint. 5 years is a long time. And now it’s time to go back out into the real world. And now you’re still going to, you know, be paroled now to a place with congregate living and rules. I mean, what I mean, what were your feelings? Were you excited? Were you nervous? Were you
Kevin Hamilton: Actually, it’s kind of unique in prison like when it rain, you can’t go outside. You stay in the building. I was glad just to go out in the rain. And certain things, you know, when I went in it was flip phones and then I saw people with these smartphones and things and I was like, “Wow.” You know, so I just was intrigued. But being in the mission I got saved in jail before I did my five years.
Jaime Buxton: Okay.
Kevin Hamilton: I was just looking for God. I was looking for the Lord. I was looking to stay off drugs and alcohol. I was looking for a new life. And in the program, I began to see how God was turning the page and he was opening new doors for Kevin. Okay. That’s you know that’s really what sustained me. The program showed me different aspects of my life the character defects and things I had an anger issue and I took anger management at the Carl B.
Stokes building through the program and you know it’s just God kept opening doors to change my heart.
Jaime Buxton: Yeah, that’s such a testament of what the Lord does because anyone who knows Kevin would not think there’s a person with an anger problem. Like you would I would I don’t think I’ve ever seen Kevin not smiling to be honest. And so that’s a testimony of what God has done in your life. So what was the program? How long were you here at the mission?
Kevin Hamilton: I was here eight and a half months.
Jaime Buxton: Okay. And then when you graduated, what did you move on to do or where did you move?
Kevin Hamilton: Well, I met a man here. He was my counselor and he ran some sober houses here on the near east side on 55th and Superior and he asked me did I want to come there after the program and actually I didn’t I didn’t go straight over there. I went downtown to Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry to 2100 Lakeside.
Jaime Buxton: Okay.
Kevin Hamilton: And I did their program.
Jaime Buxton: Okay.
Kevin Hamilton: And I stayed there 6 months. So I did eight and a half here. Stayed there 6 months. Then I moved over to Emanuel Promise of Hope where I’m over at now after the 6 months and that’s where my journey began over there.
Continuing recovery and serving others
Jaime Buxton: Okay. Tell us about Emanuel Promise of Hope.
Kevin Hamilton: It’s a sober living me and my wife oversee. They’ve been existing for over 30 years. They got started through Emanuel Christian Center. The late Bishop Marbury founded it and they interviewed me about becoming the president and I run it to this day and we’ve got 15 beds and we get most of our men from the Crossroads program.
Jaime Buxton: That’s what I was just going to ask. I never knew exactly how many beds. So 15 beds and the vast majority are graduates from this program. So it’s like it’s it’s almost exactly what you did. You went from one program to another. You I think I mean would you say you just knew you still needed kind of the stability of groups and things like that?
Kevin Hamilton: Absolutely. You know when you graduate the program you want to make sure that it I always say it’s good to be sober but it’s better to stay sober.
Jaime Buxton: Yes.
Kevin Hamilton: And so I want to stay sober even to this day. You know I’m still working the program. Program never leaves you. It’s ongoing. You know the program is what God speaks in his word to us. So that’s what we do. It’s like aftercare. So some men stay there a year, some leave in 6 months. If you want to stay 3 years, I don’t mind. You know, if you feel like you ready to go, that’s what we do at Emanuel and it’s directly connected to what we do here.
Jaime Buxton: I love that. So it’s a tertiary program to what we’re doing here. And I just love Kevin that I’m sure that in and of itself is a full-time job and what you’re doing here is a full-time job. You’re and you’re a pastor. I mean, let’s give a shout out to your church as well.
Kevin Hamilton: Yeah. Yeah. Grace Temple. It’s not far from here. And you know, over a year and a half ago, my cousin was the pastor and he moved to Columbus and he asked me and my wife, “What we think about pastoring there?” And I said, “Wow.” You know, I had been in Euclid at my church for 21 years as associate pastor and Jeff brought me to that church. So, you know, it was just a connection.
And I actually grew up at Grace. So, my mom and dad, everybody was there. So, when we took it on, me and my wife, we didn’t know what to expect, but God just continued to open doors and do things, Jaime, that, we know that God does.
Jaime Buxton: I just think it’s amazing when you really think about it in just the plain terms of how God brought you to this neighborhood and really what’s still going on in your heart and in this neighborhood, you know, only through the transforming power of God’s love and your obedience to him is amazing. I mean, just look at those ripple effects. And that will still happen for many years to come. Thanks for being willing to share a bit of your story and you know to keep the ministry going here.
A lot of people would probably question what keeps you wanting to do the night shift when you’ve got all these other things going on Kevin. So tell us what a night shift looks like for you.
Kevin Hamilton: I feel like in the Bible Jesus came to Nicodemus at night, you know, and I feel like that it’s a calling, you know. God has called me even to the shift, you know. Some people called the first shift second shift. I feel like my calling is third shift. How do I know that and believe that? I wake the men up. And to me, that’s the first impression. If you’re on the street and you come to our doors, it’s how you wake a guy up.
You know, I’m not aggressive or none of that. I’m very patient. I give him a scripture. I go over the intercom. I wake them up with a good morning. This going to be a blessed day. It’s going to be a blessed day in the program. God got a plan. And I give them all of that. But that to me is why I stay on third because God has blessed me to be able to relate on the third shift.
Jaime Buxton: I love that. Do you have any stories that you could share of maybe anybody who’s needed something in the middle of the night? I’m guessing that happens often.
Kevin Hamilton: Absolutely. Even to talk, you know, therapeutic stuff. Some guy may get up, can’t sleep. Family members aren’t there or something going on even battling with addiction or whatever he was battling with, they’ll come down and ask for prayer. You know, you can never, you know, prayer is the key. So, I always pray with guys. I prayed recently with a guy. He came down at two in the morning said, “Pastor, I just need prayer.” And I did.
I prayed with him. He got up the next morning said, “That was like taking medicine. I feel better.” You know, so you know, and you never know when God’s going to open the door, even in the middle of the night, to use you because that’s what we do. We’re the body of Christ. We’re here to be used.
Jaime Buxton: Awesome.
Jeff’s journey and a brother’s support
Jaime Buxton: Well, now we’re going to turn and talk to your brother a little bit. What I love about both of you is one I, you know, I love that you’re brothers, both here ministering together on different shifts, although Jeff is known to work 24 hours a day around here as well. But before I do, what Jeff, what were you doing when your brother was in prison or here at the mission? Because you were close by.
You guys were raised not too far from here. So, where were you kind of in the midst of Kevin’s story?
Jeff Hamilton: When he got released from prison? I was living in Willowick.
Jaime Buxton: Okay.
Jeff Hamilton: I was living out there I was married living out there in Willowick and then we found out he got out of prison. So how he how he got introduced to Living Waters Church of God is me and my wife we used to go there and then we started taking him there and then that’s I couldn’t understand when I used to pick him up about he said I can’t work yet you know me being a workaholic I couldn’t understand that.
Why can’t you work so it wasn’t until me going through the program myself that the mission wants you to concentrate on you before anything else.
Jaime Buxton: Yeah.
Jeff Hamilton: And your relationship with Christ.
Jaime Buxton: Yeah.
Jeff Hamilton: That’s more important than anything. And they want you to do that first. So when you used to tell me that, I’d be like, What do you mean, you can’t work? But now I understand why.
Jaime Buxton: Yeah.
Jeff Hamilton: I understand the whole concept of why they didn’t want you to work when you first get here. Yeah. Understand that.
Jaime Buxton: So your brother was encouraging you when you were in this time. You newly savedish, right, in prison and starting to figure out what life outside of prison looks like. Your brother’s walking alongside you and then the story kind of flipped a little, right?
Jeff Hamilton: It did a lot.
Jaime Buxton: Yeah, it flipped. I mean, we’re going to get to it, but yeah, the story flipped quite a bit. And so now let’s let’s start where your story is. Get us to the year so we’re kind of understanding, Jeff, and tell us a little bit about your story. What brought you to The City Mission as a resident, as a participant?
Jeff Hamilton: What brought me to The City Mission as a resident is Kevin had been out and then I got in trouble. So I was downtown in the county jail. I was down there facing 163 years.
Jaime Buxton: 163 years. I mean, I can’t fathom getting in that much trouble. But let’s set that aside. Like what how heavy that must feel.
Jeff Hamilton: Yeah.
Jaime Buxton: I mean, even if you deserve punishment 163 years, I can’t imagine what that feels like walking into a courtroom, you know, and if we miss, you know, the symbolism there about like what Christ does for us and the heaviness that we carry. I mean, just 163 years. So, that’s a big weight.
Jeff Hamilton: Yes.
Jaime Buxton: You’re facing that in prison. What happens
Jeff Hamilton: I the whole time I was there, I gave my life back to Christ and I would pray every day and Kevin got involved and he on my court date, he went talk to the judge for me and the judge said in the courtroom, you know, he mentioned Kevin’s name and my wife at the time and he sentenced me to The City Mission because of what he knew about Kevin’s story and what he went through and Now, the success story that he had from being in this program and the judge really wanted the same for me.
So, at my brother’s direction, they sentenced me here and brought me here in cuffs and shackles. They dropped me off at the front door in the deputy sheriff’s van.
Jaime Buxton: Okay.
Jeff Hamilton: That’s how I started the program.
Jaime Buxton: Wow. Talk to me. What did you think about being here? I mean, you’ve seen it through the eyes of your brother. You probably had some judgy thoughts even then. I think you kind of alluded to it. What do you mean you can’t work? What are you What are you doing there? You know, what did you think now that it’s your position and you know the story has flipped and you’re a resident at the mission?
Jeff Hamilton: Now that I was a resident, he was he was still an RA. He was working.
Jaime Buxton: See, by then you were working here.
Jeff Hamilton: Okay. And I really didn’t know what to expect. I stepped into a place where he had been. So I’m looking at him like if it can be done for him here, it can be done for me also. Yeah. And that was my expectation, but I was still kind of fearful of what I had to do. There was, you know, a lot of rules and regulations and you can’t work and me being a workaholic, I wanted to get out and get at it.
But
Jaime Buxton: Yeah,
Jeff Hamilton: They wouldn’t let me do that.
Jaime Buxton: How long did you actually serve in prison, Jeff?
Jeff Hamilton: I did 13 years in prison.
Jaime Buxton: 13 years.
Jeff Hamilton: Yeah.
Jaime Buxton: So, again, a good long time. And what’s it like what’s it like to be dropped off? You said it in shackles here and all of a sudden you’re free but yeah you are part of this program. I mean is there anxiety? I mean are you screaming hallelujah I’m free or what is that like?
Jeff Hamilton: I wasn’t screaming hallelujah I’m free. I was like Jesus where am I?
Jaime Buxton: Yeah. Well I mean that’s kind of what I figured
Jeff Hamilton: Because you were you know you away from society for so long. Like Kevin said the first thing that threw me was the phones. When I went in, there were they had just started camera phones. And then when I get out, I see a guy walking up the street talking and I don’t see a phone or nothing. I’m I was like, “Wow, what have I got into?” He was talking on his Bluetooth.
Jaime Buxton: That’s I never I never thought about that. It was like the Jetsons come to life,
Jeff Hamilton: You know. So, once I came here and, got into the program, I worked in the kitchen for a while, then I got a job and then, I seen me being a workaholic, it really, really, really can further damage me because I’m sort of a not sort of, I am addicted to working.
Jaime Buxton: Yeah.
Jeff Hamilton: And everybody knows it. Kevin knows it. People here know it. But, and I had to learn to put Christ ahead of everything that I do here. And Dale Glicker told me once, he said, “Jeff, I know you’re a workaholic, but you’ve got to learn to put Christ ahead of ahead of that. If you don’t, you’re going to be in trouble again.”
Jaime Buxton: Yeah.
Jeff Hamilton: You know, so and I always remember that. Right. I remember that.
Putting faith first
Jaime Buxton: And so what does that mean for you, Jeff? How did that change you?
Jeff Hamilton: It changed me in a way that now even though I do still work a lot but Christ comes first, God comes first you know and the mission that he has us me and my brother and staff here for the men, women and children the mission that he has that comes first.
Jaime Buxton: Yeah.
Jeff Hamilton: Above anything else and I’ve learned to stay in my lane even though I still work a lot. I’ve learned to stay in my lane. I have to Yeah. You know, it’s like put brakes on there.
The impact of showing up for others
Jaime Buxton: I love that. Tell me about some sort of opportunity that you’ve had here. Is there is there an individual that stands out and you know, we don’t need to use their full name or anything like that, but that you’ve gotten to rub shoulders with and either of you can answer this and that has brought you just Yeah, that’s why I’m here. What encourages you in your work? If that’s a person, if that’s a thing that you’re doing daily, you know, a powerful story of somebody that you’re working with, I don’t know.
Kevin Hamilton: Philip, he works here and Cesar works here and they’re they live down where I’m at.
Jaime Buxton: Okay.
Kevin Hamilton: But just to see them doing good. When you see a person doing you know, way better than when they came, you start to see the transformation. That’s the awesome thing of being RA. We get to see the transformation, see them come from this to that. And it’s just it’s it’s I can name a couple, you know, of guys that you just see the transformation after 3, four months. You start to see them starting to get it.
And that’s what encourages me. That’s what keeps us going is to see the work of the cross just being done, being displayed.
Jaime Buxton: Yeah. How about you, Jeff? Anything?
Jeff Hamilton: One of the times I remember was when I was already doing my security check in the warehouse coming out of the warehouse. That was when we had the donation box.
Jaime Buxton: Mhm.
Jeff Hamilton: It was it was a guy hanging out the donation box and his feet were just hanging out. So I go over to the donation box and ask him what is he doing here and he got, you know, real belligerent. Leave me alone. I just want some clothes and this and that. So, I started talking to him and the more I talked to him, the more I realized that all he really did want was some clothes and something to eat.
And once I realized that, he came up and hugged me and he said, “Man, I just want some clothes and something to eat.” It was cold. I got him a hat, gloves, a coat, and I went into the kitchen and got him something to eat. And he cried on the way out the driveway. And I’ll never forget that. Yeah. That’s all he wanted. I tried to get him to stay, but he’s had other things he wanted to do.
So,
Jaime Buxton: Just being there for that moment for him.
Jeff Hamilton: And it’s just like that any anybody here. We do devotionals Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. My day is Wednesday, tomorrow morning. And I get a joy out of spreading God’s message to the guys and them being encouraged by it. And then they look at us here, me and Kevin and other people that have been to the program here. And I really want them to see if that we can do it, you can do it, too.
Jaime Buxton: Absolutely. That’s the goal for them to know that you know that Christ can change lives and he does.
Jeff Hamilton: Mhm.
Jaime Buxton: Is that something you think about like daily like you see your story in other people’s.
Kevin Hamilton: Absolutely. Absolutely. Because I always say if he could do it for me, he can do it for anybody. My life is so much changed. If you knew the old person and the old me versus what you see today, it’s like night and day. The way God, you know, he changed us.
Jaime Buxton: Absolutely.
Kevin Hamilton: Mhm.
Seeing ourselves in the people we serve
Jaime Buxton: Anything else? Anything. What would you I’m trying to ask the people who work here especially while we talk is what is it that you would want people to know and understand about Well, I guess it’s you and the people that we serve, right? Like we say this is the Not That Different podcast. How would you want to pull back a layer and say we’re really we’re not that different?
Kevin Hamilton: Well, we are different. For me, you know, I’m familiar with a lot of the shelters in Cleveland. And to me, if I would pick this would be the best one.
Jaime Buxton: Yes.
Kevin Hamilton: And then that would be and not to down them. They do a great work as well. But for me it would be all these years I passed here and they call it the best kept secret in Cleveland. Yeah. The City Mission crossroads. But I passed here and all the help I needed was here and it’s amazing because God he works through stuff and he worked through crossroads. He worked through the mission to get me to the place where I need to be in relationship with him.
And that’s just to me that’s you know that’s why we do what we do.
Jaime Buxton: Yeah.
Jeff Hamilton: It’s it’s it’s not that different for me because I do see myself in a lot of the guys here. They come through the door. I you know I know what I went through. I was a drug addict on the street. Didn’t have anything. Kevin pulled me up. I didn’t have anything. And with Christ and God in my life and when he brought me to the mission, I mean, it’s it was just a blessing.
So now being on this side, when people do come through the front door, a lot of times I’m in tears and they don’t even know it because I see myself.
Jaime Buxton: Yeah.
Jeff Hamilton: Because that’s how I used to be. So you can’t help but lend a helping hand to try to help them out of it, too. You can’t can’t help but do that. But now I’m married. I just bought a house. I have a dog named Coco.
Jaime Buxton: You love that dog.
Jeff Hamilton: You know, so that all that is part of me being transformed here at the mission and it does work.
Jaime Buxton: Mhm. Absolutely.
Jeff Hamilton: It does work.
What the brothers want people to understand
Jaime Buxton: Is there anything you would want to say to people who just, you know, maybe look at the work we’re doing here and say that’s for people who are lazy or that’s for people who will never amount to anything. What would you like to say to those people?
Kevin Hamilton: Sometimes unless you’ve been through it sometime you can’t you know you can’t relate you know sometime if you never been homeless or on the street or some of that and then sometime you don’t have to be because I always say you know this may not make sense to a lot of people but we’re all homeless till we get to heaven because heaven is home and you know I just want to encourage that we get Jesus here and we get Christ and when you get him you get anything.
Jeff Hamilton: Mhm. That’s right.
Jaime Buxton: I love that. We’re all homeless. Heaven is home. Anything else you want to add?
Jeff Hamilton: I for people that don’t understand what we do and why we do it, well, we do it because of Christ because it’s our calling. But we also do it because some people see us as, wow, they’re all down there with those homeless people and people coming in and everything’s going on. But we love what we do. You know what I mean? And for if they could just see that this is well worth it with the people that come out of here, the women and children, the men that come out of here through this program, all this is worth it.
And you never know, one day you could end up homeless. I seen a college professor here when I was RA. He was a college professor. I noticed him in the day room. He was carrying his book bag around. And I was like, he’s he’s different. I found out he was a college professor. He had got into some things going on with his home and he just needed to stay until he got things back together and he still went to work down to the college.
Jaime Buxton: Mhm. Wow.
Jeff Hamilton: So that could be anybody at any moment could end up homeless.
Jaime Buxton: Absolutely. And that’s really the whole point of this podcast. It’s the whole point of my heart is just to really be able to peel back those layers and help people understand that really at the end of the day, we’re Not That Different. We’re all humans created in God’s image and we all just have a different journey. And so, thank you for both just being so willing to share your story and to help you know this be more relatable for people.
Thank you. Thanks for joining us for the Not That Different podcast. If this resonates with you and makes your heart beat fast, then we would encourage you if you’re in this Cleveland, Ohio area, look us up at thecitymission.org. But if you’re not local, find a shelter, find a place nearby where you can get involved and help people. We hope that this inspires you to get involved, to give to become an advocate for people who are experiencing homelessness.
Again, check us out at thecitymission.org or you can email us directly at connect@thecitymission.org and like and subscribe. Share this podcast. Thanks for listening.