Overview

Based on eight years of hands-on experience and more than 300 interviews, Street Saints is both a book of motivational stories about unsung heroes and a sociological study of the faith factor, documenting faith based programmes that are treating social maladies in America. This book takes readers on a tour of communities and institutions in America where faith based initiatives are making a difference. It offers inspiration, role models and guidelines for people who would like to give back to their own communities. Section 1 introduces street saints, people who are willing to go where there is pain and suffering and be a presence of healing with love. They are people of faith who are solving problems such as a woman who has reclaimed a city block from drug dealers and a pastor who walks into gang confrontations to defuse them. Although of diverse races, religions and socio-economic backgrounds, they are alike in their motivation to transform individuals. Section 2 offers a tour of programmes with an examination of what works and why. Examples include: prison rehabilitation programmes; a programme that cares for abused toddlers; one that mobilizes thousands of mentors for at-risk children by pairing a church with an elementary school; drug treatment and welfare to work programmes that move people into self-sufficiency; and programmes that help mentally and physically handicapped people support themselves with micro-enterprises. Section 3 focuses on three cities Pittsburgh, Memphis and Fresno where people of faith are mobilizing resources to transform entire communities. Section 4 presents the historical framework that puts social entrepreneurship into a broader vision of the soul of America. An appendix provides contact information for those who want to emulate the examples provided in the book.

Full Product Details

9781932031768

Table of Contents

Reviews

Barbara Elliott unites knowledge and eloquence, an all-too rare combination.

Author Information

Barbara J. Elliott is the founder of the Center for Renewal in Houston, which serves the leaders of faith-based groups, particularly those working in the inner city. She is also a philanthropic advisor with the Legacy Group and an Associate Fellow with the Sagamore Institute. She is the author of Street Saints: Renewing America's Cities also from Templeton Foundation Press, which profiles the people, programs, and organizations that are transforming our communities.

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