Mean Streets, Kind Heart

By: Sue Williams

Narrated by: Kate Hood

Father Chris Riley is a maverick priest with an extraordinary mission: helping kids in desperate trouble who have no one else to turn to. They're some of the toughest kids in Australia, but he refuses to give up on them. And the results are astonishing. An 11-year-old boy, labelled a 'solo crime wave', with 137 offences. A 16-year-old who stabbed a man to death. A heroin addict aged just fifteen, forced to sell herself on the streets. When everyone else failed them, Father Chris stepped in - and now they're all happy, healthy teenagers, looking forward to long and fulfilling lives. More than 45,000 kids have passed through his Youth off the Streets projects, which include farms in the country, a detox centre, a food van delivering hot meals to the hungry and homeless, schools and a mentor program. Their stories are heartbreaking and heart-warming, tragic and triumphant. Father Chris Riley's biography is an inspiring tale of modern Australia and a man who refuses to give up on our future.

©2003 Sue Williams (P)2003 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Critic reviews

"Father Chris's story is an uplifting one of second chances, of survival, of renewal, of hope." (Sir William Deanne)