{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Peaceful Hugs Podcast","title":"He Lived on the Streets by Choice. Here's What Nobody Tells You With Chad Wheeler","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3549,"description":"In this episode of the Peaceful Hugs Podcast, hosts Mark Z and Lorelei Cromer sit down with Chad Wheeler — Executive Director of Open Door in Lubbock, Texas — for a candid, deeply moving conversation about what it truly looks like to love your neighbors, especially the ones most people would rather not see.Chad traces Open Door's remarkable origin back nearly 30 years to a returned missionary named Jim Beck, who — reeling from reverse culture shock after more than a decade in Kenya — didn't start a program or a nonprofit. He simply got in line at a soup kitchen, grabbed a plate of fried chicken, and sat down with a man named Bo. That single act of table fellowship planted the seed of what is today a thriving church, community center, supportive housing program, and survivor housing initiative serving hundreds of Lubbock's most vulnerable residents every single night.Chad also pulls back the curtain on his own remarkable journey — from an affluent upbringing with no exposure to homelessness, to sleeping in the backseat of a 1995 Toyota Camry as a college student, to spending three weeks on the streets of Austin with $12, a backpack, and no phone — all to understand from the inside what the people he serves actually experience. What he found wasn't danger. It was loneliness. And that discovery has quietly shaped everything Open Door does.Chapters00:15 Welcome & Introduction to Chad Wheeler and Open Door03:30 How Open Door Started: Jim Beck, Bo, and a Plate of Fried Chicken08:45 From Carpenter's Church to Community Center — 30 Years of Showing Up13:10 Chad's Journey: Sleeping in His Car and Three Weeks on the Streets of Austin19:20 What He Learned: Loneliness, Judgment, and People Are Just People25:00 Housing vs. Home — Why a Roof Alone Isn't Enough29:40 Wraparound Services: Meeting People Where They Actually Are34:15 Faith Without Force: Open Door's Approach to God and Belonging39:30 The Story of the Man Who Drew Satanic Art in Art Class43:00 Survivor Housing:...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/bgKQmlXaG4OOkIff2_iy3QZkjJOFJaQIr6PEBrZx4Vk/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS82MGU1/MmJiYzc1MjljNmE1/MjNjMDZiY2IwOGI1/ZWFjMS5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}