Walter Boyd speaks with quiet conviction, reflecting on a life shaped by hardship, faith, and resilience. Raised in a large family in Detroit, he grew up fast. His mother worked grueling hours to support the household while his father—an abusive Vietnam veteran struggling with addiction—was in and out of the picture. At just nine years old, Walter was removed from the home due to abuse and placed in a boys’ home. Not because he was in trouble, he says, but because he needed protection. “It was a path no nine-year-old should ever have to take.”
Walter’s story is marked by turning points—some painful, some redemptive. He became a minister and credits his faith with anchoring him through instability, addiction, and isolation. After separating from his wife, he found himself homeless again—this time in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, sleeping in a massive shelter with 800 other men. Violence, medical issues, and mental strain nearly broke him. “My world was crashing,” he says, “and I didn’t know why I had walked away.”
