PHOENIX — Life has come full circle for Cleo Lewis, a Valley street minister, who was once as low as he could be.
Today, he spends his days looking for the next Cleo Lewis.
On the right side of the law
Growing up in Tucson, as a young man, Lewis didn’t see many opportunities for himself.
He figured his best chance at seeing the world was to join the military.
Contrary to his expectations, the Air Force shipped Lewis up Interstate-10 to Glendale. There, he served at Luke Air Force Base as a law enforcement specialist.
After a few years in the military, Lewis was honorably discharged from the Air Force and accepted a position with the Phoenix Police Department.
“I got assigned to a gang unit that was our Organized Crime Task Force,” Lewis recalls. “And as a result of being on that task force, I was trained into doing narcotics sales – undercover narcotics sales.”
This was the mid-80s at the height of the war on drugs.
For one assignment, Lewis was to enter the home of a suspected drug dealer and try to buy some Crack Cocaine from the man. What happened next changed his life forever.
On the wrong side of the law
“I went into a place and got myself into a situation where it was a forced-use situation, where I was forced to use crack cocaine,” Lewis said.
As he tells it, the suspected dealer was suspicious of Lewis, having not dealt with him before.
As the situation become tenser, Lewis heard a metallic “click” behind him, as another man chambered a round in his AK-47, that was held to Lewis’ head.
The suspect told Lewis he was to smoke the crack.
He did.
After he got himself out of the home, Lewis said he reported the situation to his superiors. Once the high faded, he thought he was fine. Until a few days later when he felt his first urge to smoke again.
“Sometime later, I started using drugs on my own to satisfy the addiction. And I had a big conflict, as anyone would know, it's not going to go right," he said. And I ended up in a fight and became injured as a result of the fight.”
The fight that Lewis refers to was covered in a Jan. 18, 1990 article in the Arizona Republic with the headline, “Police: Ex-officer in the pocket of dealers.”
The article reports that Lewis was the subject of a DEA investigation for his ties to drug dealers. The article further reported that Lewis owned an undisclosed amount of money to those dealers and was beaten in an attempt to collect the money.
This was all from an informant for the DEA. Lewis was convicted and imprisoned.
Upon his release, Lewis had nowhere to go. He was homeless.
“After getting out of prison, I just couldn't get my life started right,” Lewis said. “So, after a variety of programs, I went to Teen Challenge and Teen Challenge really worked. But I didn't use the tools that they gave me. So, I ended up again, homeless after relapsing. And after close to 10 years of being addicted and homeless, I sought help with the VA.”
That’s when Lewis was referred to CASS.
Finding his way back
Central Arizona Shelter Services, known as CASS, is Arizona’s largest shelter system, helping thousands experiencing homelessness each year.
“CASS was exactly what I needed at the right time,” Lewis said. “I had so many issues, I consider myself probably the worst-case scenario of anyone that's ever been in CASS. It took about a year for me to rebound to a sense of stability and purpose.”
Lewis also returned to church. A pastor told him Lewis would one day be working in outreach ministry.
“And I remember telling the pastor in that church within Sunnyslope, I'm through with people. I don't want to have anything to do with people,” Lewis chuckled.
As the old saying goes, man plans and God laughs.
Lewis, now an ordained minister within the Assemblies of God church, spends his days walking the streets helping anyone who needs assistance.
“I could go out and look for people that were dealing with the same circumstances I was in to give them hope, and direction,” Lewis said.
Lewis said he was fortunate to come full circle. He said there is no game plan for living on the streets and is grateful for organizations like CASS that help those living on the streets, and provides a way to end their homelessness.
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