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Minister goes 'undercover' to see homelessness from other side

Photos by ROB McNEEL

Local minister and gospel artist Leo Villanueva lived as a homeless man in downtown Tampa for three days to raise awareness for the plight of the homeless.

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By MICHELLE BEARDEN

mbearden@tampatrib.com

Published: July 20, 2009

TAMPA - Every time he handed over a dollar or two to a homeless person, or volunteered to serve food in a soup kitchen, Leo Villanueva felt guilty.

He had a home, a wife and daughter, a good job and a successful career in music. He always knew where his next meal was coming from. How could he possibly understand what a person living on the street was going through?

So for three days this month, he joined them.

"Having compassion from a distance was not enough," says Villanueva, student music minister at Idlewild Baptist Church and winner of the 2006 Dove Award for Spanish Album of the Year.

"I needed to walk in their shoes and experience it in the flesh. Only then would I truly know."

He calls his three-day experience this month in downtown Tampa a "personal and spiritual journey" to rededicate his own commitment to working with the homeless. But he's also sharing it with the public via the Internet to ramp up awareness and inspire others to get involved.

He set up a Facebook group called "Leo the Homeless Man," where people could follow a blog report, video diary and photos shot by freelance photographer Rob McNeel. The two men had a predetermined location to meet for a short period each day for filming.

"If I wasn't there, then he knew I was in trouble," Villanueva, 36, says.

To blend in, he grew a beard. On the morning he was dropped off, he wore jeans and a Tampa Bay Lightning T-shirt, which he wore all three days. He had a backpack with a blanket, toothbrush, a pair of sunglasses, a book about the homeless crisis and a notepad.

He also brought along the most essential item a homeless person can have: a Florida ID.

He began his journey with some understanding of the struggles the poor endure. Villanueva has volunteered with Metropolitan Ministries and The Salvation Army; he's participated in mission trips to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, to Nashville and the Dominican Republic.

But being on the other end of the spectrum – the receiver, instead of the giver – was a jarring experience.

"I went through so many emotions. Humiliation, fear, exhaustion," he says. "Just getting from point A to point B isn't easy when you don't have transportation or money."

On his first day, he went to the Salvation Army's Trinity Café for lunch, only to learn he should've showed up hours earlier to get a ticket for the meal. Although the allotted number of meal tickets had already been handed out, a volunteer ushered him in along with a dozen more ticketless men.

One of the most pleasant surprises was how the volunteers treated the homeless with such kindness and dignity. "I kept thinking of them as angels," he says. "These people are amazing. They restore your faith in the human race."

Villanueva found sanctuary the first night on the steps of Sacred Heart Catholic Church downtown. He was tired, but he didn't sleep much. Strange noises and shadowy figures in the dark jarred him awake. Just before dawn, a priest opened the church doors, giving the men a gentle wake-up call.

The men were invited to the morning church service, and Villanueva attended. Afterward, another churchgoer invited him to breakfast at a restaurant a few blocks away. He accepted. The two enjoyed a meal at First Watch, the retired law enforcement officer and "Homeless Leo" talked about heaven and Christ.

Villanueva kept his identity hidden, but at times the minister side of him wanted to share his faith. Instead, when he talked about Scriptures, he would reference his father, a Presbyterian pastor in Puerto Rico.

Uncomfortable about lying outright, Villanueva revealed as little as possible about himself, only saying he was a musician. It turns out he didn't have to fabricate anything.

"People don't really ask you questions. Most are just focused on where to get the next meal, if there's day work available, and where will they be sleeping that night," he says. "It's a day-to-day existence."

Villanueva stood in line for hours to secure passes to sleep the other two nights at The Salvation Army. Although grateful for the shelter that kept him dry from the rain, he felt safer on the church steps.

During his journey, Villanueva befriended two men – Jake from Plant City and Teddy from Sarasota. Both were stranded in Tampa for various reasons and had no way to get back from whence they came. On his final day, he told the men his real story. With the help of Idlewild members, he got them fresh clothing and supplies, purchased a one-way bus ticket for Teddy and drove Jake to Plant City.

He gave them each his business card and left them with these parting words: If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call. To Jake, he gave his Bible.

"I think God meant for me to meet them and do something, however small, to help them out," he says.

Now back home with his wife, a nurse, and their 7-year-old daughter, Villanueva has a much better understanding of the daily hardships faced by the country's growing homeless population. On his newest CD, "Hope," he sings a song that has more meaning than ever now. It's called "Hope is Coming to You."

He still sheds tears, thinking of those people on the streets.

Besides the Internet audience, Villanueva will share his experience with other congregations interested in setting up homeless ministries. He's ramping up his volunteer work with local homeless charities and will work on programs that help street people find steady employment. He's promised to bring more student groups to the shelters for service hours.

"Now that I know what it's really like out there," he says, "I can't forget. This journey has changed my life."

Reporter Michelle Bearden can be reached at (813) 259-7613.

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