Street Saints
Details and Description
Description
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 programs 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.
Table of Contents
Foreword / xi
Ambassador and former U.S. Senator Daniel R. Coats
Acknowledgments / xvii
Introduction: Barbara J. Elliott / xix
A brief overview of this book’s tour through America’s cities
Part I. The People: Portraits of Street Saints
1. American Street Saints in Action / 3
- Kirbyjon Caldwell: Windsor Village and the Power Center, / 3
Wall Street broker-turned-pastor sparks urban transformation that inspired George W. Bush (Houston, TX) - Freddie and Ninfa Garcia: Victory Fellowship of Texas, / 9
Former addicts help thirteen thousand leave drugs in Hispanic communities (San Antonio, TX) - Cordelia Taylor: Family House, / 15
Reclaiming a city block from drug dealers to create a haven of peace for the elderly poor (Milwaukee, WI) - Eugene Rivers: Ten Point Coalition, / 21
Turning gang members to God in the inner city (Boston, MA)
2. John Perkins: Raw Violence and Reconciliation / 24
- The journey from rage to reconciliation and restoration of impoverished communities
3. Brian King: A Gangster Disciple / 40
- A Chicago gang member and drug dealer turned apostle
Part II. The Programs: What Works and Why, as Street Saints Change Lives
4. Rescuing America’s At-Risk Kids / 55
- Casa de Esperanza: / 57
Healing abused and abandoned children (Houston, TX) - Kids Hope USA, / 62
Pairs one mentor, one child, one church, one school (Holland, MI, 217 partnerships nationally) - Urban Ventures, / 69
Transforming at-risk youth and their entire neighborhood (Minneapolis, MN) - Cornerstone Schools, / 72
Raising the bar for academic performance in the inner city (Detroit, MI) - The Oaks Academy, / 76
Classical education with wraparound renewal (Indianapolis, IN) - Religion and At-Risk Youth, / 80
Research on the “faith factor”
5. Transforming Offenders and Victims / 83
- InnerChange Freedom Initiative, / 85
Faith-saturated prison program reduces recidivism (TX, MN, IA, KS) - Bridges to Life, / 92
Face-to-face reconciliation between victims and inmates (seven prisons in TX) - No More Victims, / 99
Reaching out to angry youth left behind (Houston, X) - Amachi, / 102
Mentoring children of prisoners by mobilizing churches (Philadelphia, PA, replicating nationally) - Craine House, / 106
Keeping women prisoners and their babies together (Indianapolis, IN)
6. Faith, Health, and Holistic Change / 110
- Holistic Welfare-to-Work, / 111
Provides more than a job - Transitional Living, / 112
New Hope Serving the Homeless - Open Door Mission (Houston, TX), / 112
Wheeler Mission Ministries (Indianapolis, IN), / 115 - Interfaith Housing Coalition (Dallas, TX), / 116
Star of Hope (Houston, TX), / 117 - Leaving Addiction: Teen Challenge, / 118
Breaking the cycle of drug addiction through faith intervention - Where Faith, Health, and Human Behavior Intersect, / 121
Scientific research on the effects of faith on healing
7. Social Entrepreneurs / 126
- Pura Vida: Coffee with a Cause (Seattle, WA, and Costa Rica), / 128
- Resources: Turning Immigrants into Entrepreneurs (Brooklyn, NY), / 132
- Step 13: Putting Recovering Addicts and Alcoholics to Work (Denver, CO), / 137
- Jobs Partnership: Mentoring into the workplace (Raleigh, NC, now replicated in twenty-seven cities), / 139
- Brookwood Community: Micro-enterprises for the handicapped (Brookshire, TX), / 142
Part III. The Cities: A Vision as Big as the City—Street Saint Strategies
8. The Nehemiah Strategy / 149
- Robert Woodson: National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise
Fostering renewal at the grassroots level (Washington, DC), / 156 - Luis Cortes: Nueva Esperanza
Giving Latinos hope, homes, jobs, and education Philadelphia, PA), / 161
9. As Famous for God as Steel: Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation / 165
- Reid Carpenter and John Stahl-Wert, / 165
- Pittsburgh Youth Network, / 167
- Pittsburgh Community Storehouse, / 168
- East Liberty Family Health Care Center, / 170
- City as Parish: Equipping the Church as a Body, / 170
- Leadership Foundations of America, / 175
10. Savvy Saturation: Memphis Leadership Foundation / 179
- Larry Lloyd and Howard Eddings, / 179
- Urban Youth Initiative, / 181
- Memphis Athletic Ministries, / 184
- Christ Community Health Services, / 186
- Neighborhood Housing Opportunities, / 188
- Economic Opportunities, / 190
- Mediation and Restitution/Reconciliation Services, / 192
- Urban Plunge, / 193
- Oasis of Hope, / 195
- Streets, / 195
- For the Kingdom Camp and Retreat Center, / 196
- Multinational Ministries, / 197
- Hope Christian Community Foundation, / 197
- Questions to Ask Before You Give to a Faith-Based Organization, / 198
11. One by One Leadership: Equipping and Connecting in Fresno / 200
- H. Spees and Kurt Madden, / 200
- Genesis of a Movement: No Name Fellowship, / 201
- Apartment Intervention: Care Fresno, / 202
- Downwardly Mobile Relocation, / 203
- Stewardship for the Soul of the City, / 204
- Neighborhood-Based Community Development, / 205
- Mentoring for Families and Youths, / 208
- City Builders Roundtable, / 210
- City as Parish, / 210
- Pastors Clusters, / 212
- Improving Achievement for Children, / 214
- City Builders Campus, / 215
- Family Leadership Connection, / 215
- Lessons Learned, / 216
- How One by One Works Citywide: Best Practices for Intermediaries, / 217
- A Conversation with H. Spees, / 222
Part IV. The Big Picture: Faith at Work in America’s History: The Beliefs That Motivate Street Saints Today
12. The Roots of American Compassion 227
- The Truth about Church and State, / 228
- Faith and the Founders, / 231
- A City on a Hill, / 232
- The Fruits of Faith, / 235
- Compact and Covenant, / 236
- Conclusive Christian Convictions, / 236
- What Alexis de Tocqueville Saw, / 238
- Fostering America’s Soul, / 239
- The Contemporary Conflict Zone, / 241
- Americans Are “Bowling Alone,” / 242
- Mall as Modern Temple, / 243
- Seeking Secular Salvation, / 246
- The Ambiguous Embrace of Government, / 248
- What’s Needed Is a Change of Heart, / 252
Conclusion: A Kingdom of Vision / 255
- The “Wounded Healer”: Henri Nouwen, / 255
- The “Kingdom at Hand”: Dallas Willard, / 258
- From the UN to the Inner City, / 259
- Why the Seepage after Sunday? / 260
- Lacking Discipleship, / 261
- The Crucial Intersection, / 262
- Faith Is the Root, Love Is the Fruit, / 263
- The Tao: C.S. Lewis, / 265
- The Social Justice Tradition, / 267
- The Evangelical Tradition, / 269
- The Contemplative Tradition: Mother Teresa, / 270
- It’s about Our Hearts, / 275
- How Do You Hear a Call? / 277
- What to Expect If You Go, / 278
Appendix / 283
Notes / 291
Bibliography / 307
Index / 311
Endorsements and Reviews
Reviews
Rebecca Hagelin
If you’re a little down on life, reading Street Saints will renew your faith in the American people. If you’re feeling sorry for yourself about your own circumstances, the book will help you understand that in giving of yourself to those whose situations are worse than your own, the one who often benefits most is you.
Midwest Book Review, The—Oregon, WI
Readers are given not only engaging portrayals of exemplary social activists, but also outlines of their innovative, relevant programs which can serve as models for ones in other urban centers.
Philadelphia Daily News
These hands-on manifestations of faith are transforming individuals and communities in a narrow, but deep, current that runs counter to the contemporary climate of secularity.
Chronicle of Philanthropy—Washington, DC
Barbara J. Elliott’s book profiles members of the "armies of compassion" and the programs they have inspired.
Christianity Today
This thought-provoking book has the potential to mobilize churches and individual Christians, making long-lasting differences in their communities. An appendix offers contact information for all the groups profiled.
Dallas Morning News—Dallas, TX
This is a first-rate book, gathering up evangelical, mainline and Catholic initiatives in the hope of sparking renewed effort by the rest of us.
What is Enlightenment?
Street Saints is almost solely focused on Christian-based service organizations, and the sheer number of programs discussed may be daunting to the casual reader. Still, its stories of conversion are tremendously inspiring, and for anyone involved in social work, it is essential reading.
Charleston Post & Courier, The—Charleston, SC
This is a first-rate book, gathering up evangelical, mainline and Catholic initiatives in the hope of sparking renewed effort by the rest of us.
Local Liberty—Claremont, California—Vol. 3 No. 4
In Street Saints Barbara J. Elliott plunges readers into the world of American faith-based services. She wrote the book, she states, "to raise the visibility of street saints, those people who are doing the remarkably hard work of loving human beings into wholeness." Founder and director of the Houston-based Center for Renewal, she is an advocate for faith-based community and social-service organizations.
In sum the book shows those working to resurrect their communities to be "saints" striving to create the Kingdom of God on earth. Ms. Elliott tells their story for outsiders who have yet to discover what goes on under the surface in neighborhoods that society has written off. Street Saints informs the reader that government programs are inadequate - the educational establishment, for example, is portrayed as distant from the life and needs of the families it is to serve.
Break Point—Lansdowne, Virginia
A new book by Barbara J. Elliott, titled Street Saints: Renewing America’s Cities, is must reading for anyone who truly wants to understand the faith-based movement. The book takes its readers into the grimmest situation - abused and neglected children, communities terrorized by gang violence, babies separated from their imprisoned mothers, and many more. And it introduces us to the people who are turning these situations around.
Prism—Wynnewood, PA
Ultimately, however, Street Saints is not about social policy but personal commitment: "Where the rubber hits the road is where we put our own convictions into action in our own communities, with our own time and money." If readers are drawn to the "humility, contagious joy, and invincible spirit" of these servants their stories intensifies Christ’s call "to be vessels of love to people who hurt," then the book has achieved its goal.
University Bookman—Brooklyn, NY
Some of the world’s greatest people are largely unknown, for they accomplish positive, life-changing deeds in quiet, unannounced ways. Their work is unreported and largely unknown outside their immediate circle of influence. A great number of such people lack political connections and every characteristic of celebrity, and their only claim to recognition springs from one small source: they desire to help others in practical, uplifting ways, often in obedience to God. They are the men and women who work in faith-based initiatives in America’s cities, and their lives affirm the belief articulated by St. James, that faith without works is dead.
In Street Saints: Renewing America’s Cities, Barbara J. Elliott tells the stories of these Christian servants in a straightforward, warts-and-all manner, revealing their life stories, struggles, and triumphs. An authority on civic renewal, Elliott has interviewed hundreds of activities (predominantly Christian) working amid conditions of squalor and hopelessness who are seeking to fashion a sense of order, faith, and community-mindedness that has been long forgotten in many inner-city neighborhoods.
Word on the Street—Vol. 4, No. 1
Drawing on eight years of hands-on experience, Barbara J. Elliott profiles people of faith who are renewing their communities. She analyzes their best practices, their track records, and what works and why. Her stories show faith in action and provide inspiration for individuals, congregations, and communities that want to join the "street saints" in doing something meaningful.
First Things, New York, NY
A textbook showcasing how George W. Bush’s faith-based "armies of compassion" are fighting the good fight in cities all over America. Working with street gangs, illegal immigrants, broken families, and a host of others in deep trouble, mainly volunteer programs turn around lives and turn fate into opportunity. The accounts are largely uncritical and sometimes a bit too breathless, but this is a book to have at hand when responding to those who claim that faith-based initiatives are nothing more than a good idea.
Choice
Elliott (Center for Renewal, Houston) draws upon her journalistic background and experience in faith-based human services to produce a work that provides examples of the people and programs involved in faith based initiatives across the country. She explores a select group of cities in which faith and action are applied to local programs. These case studies add to the descriptive literature on faith-based initiatives in the area of social welfare. Elliott anchors these people and their initiatives within the broader context of the historical balance between the role of government and civic values. She analyzes service to others as a mechanism for one’s own spiritual development, and portrays the impact of spirituality upon micro, mezzo, and macro systems in US society. The work extends the description of faith-based organizations and the process of care to the local level. As US society struggles to define a role for government and local initiatives in the movement for the alleviation of social problems at the local level, this work provides descriptive case studies for the examination of this policy dilemma.
World Magazine Online
Barbara J. Elliot’s Street Saints: Renewing American Cities is perfect for someone who wonders why anyone should have faith in a White House faith-based initiative.