Endorsements for Street Saints: Renewing America ’s Cities

by Barbara J. Elliott

 

“Who are the modern-day Good Samaritans?  They are the “street saints,” according to Barbara Elliott, the founder of the Center for Renewal in Houston , which serves faith-based groups working mostly in the inner city.

Street saints are those willing to go where there is pain and suffering and be a presence of healing with love, she writes.  This absorbing overview provides an in-depth look at how individuals and faith-based groups are helping to solve urban problems:  crime, addiction, racism, elder care, unemployment, and grinding poverty, among others.  A particularly compelling section details faith-based prison programs and the impact they have on recidivism.  Among them is Indianapolis 's Craine House, where convicted mothers and their young children remain together.

They key in all programs is not so much reformation as transformation.  “The most successful faith-based groups have healed hurting people by addressing both body and soul together,” Elliott writes.  Photos help personalize the text.

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.”

-- Christianity Today (February 2005, Bookmarks – Quick Reviews of New Books)

Barbara Elliott, author of “Street Saints,” was interviewed by Robert Schuller on the Hour of Power at the Crystal Cathedral. Click here to view a clip.

“[Barbara Elliott's] sweeping portrait shows readers the past and present of faith-based organizations in hopes that they and those who participate in them will have a bright future.”

-- Eloise Anderson, Director of the Claremont Institute's Golden State Center and Program for the American Family (Full review text)

"Street Saints powerfully portrays the difference that faith-based and community groups – as well as faith-filled people – are making in the lives of those in need in America. In an era of cynicism and anxiety, Street Saints offers inspiration and hope and shows how lives are being transformed by, as President Bush would say, America’s ‘armies of compassion.’”

-- Jim Towey, former legal counsel to Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives

“In this book Barbara Elliott unites knowledge and eloquence, an all-too-rare combination. Barbara introduced me to some terrific groups in Houston ; now she is introducing the entire country to what she has learned. Take advantage of her understanding by making it your own.”

-- Marvin Olasky, University of Texas , Austin ; editor of World magazine, author of Compassionate Conservatism and The Tragedy of American Compassion.

“Barbara Elliott is a hands-on hero. With the mind of a first rate policy analyst, she has a heart as big as Texas and she’s not afraid to get out amongst ’em as the 300 interviews in Street Saints attests.”

-- Bob Buford , author of Halftime and Finishing Well and founder ofLeadership Network

“Street Saints is a compelling look at what’s right with America .  No stranger to the political world, Barbara Elliott takes us deeper than political remedies can reach: the human heart.  Faith works, she demonstrates in a plunge tour of our cities that it is not only inspiring, but persuasively researched."

--Deal Hudson, publisher, Crisis magazine

“Elliott’s tour of America’s soft underbelly in Street Saints is inspiring, because it depicts how sufferers have become transformers, bringing renewal to distressed individuals and neighborhoods. The colorful description of effective models and handy guide to key lessons learned will help anyone interested in tackling community problems to obtain a handhold on how to get started.”

--Dr. Amy L. Sherman, author, Restorers of Hope: Reaching the Poor in Your Community with Church-Based Ministries That Work

"No one tells the stories of the nation's Good Samaritans with more warmth and intelligence than Barbara Elliott. Few grasp as clearly why faith commitment is crucial to family and social stability. In Street Saints we now have the most thorough treatment available of how religious groups of every stripe are revitalizing America's streets, neighborhoods and cities."

  -- Joe Loconte, William E. Simon Fellow in Religion and a Free Society at The Heritage Foundation; author of Seducing the Samaritan

“Read Street Saints for spirit-tingling proof that faith-filled organizations and people are making an unmistakable difference in our world. Written with imagination and joy, this book portrays an inspiring army of ‘saints’ who have been moved by God’s love to practice on the street what they have professed in the sanctuary. Street Saints will bless you!”

-- Dr. Virgil Gulker, Founder and Executive Director of Kids Hope USA

“Barbara Elliott has a genius for identifying America ’s most effective faith-based healers of troubled souls and troubled neighborhoods.”

-- Adam Meyerson , President, The Philanthropy Roundtable

“One definition of vision is simply "seeing.” This book is a wonderful gift of sight...the capacity to get the lens on those who each day are the heart, hands and feet of a compassionate God who particularly loves the poor. In reading it, I received bursts of sheer joy.”

-- Reid Carpenter, President, Leadership Foundations of America

“ Barbara Elliott's Streets Saints is a wonderful compilation of the way faith-based initiatives and faith-based communities are providing hope for those who are seeking help in their lives. These lived out experiences of the Christian message motivate us to seek the well being of all.”

--Most Reverend Joe S. Vásquez , Auxiliary Bishop of Galveston-Houston

“Mother Teresa of Calcutta held that poverty in the United States is more severe than anywhere else in the world because, in this, the wealthiest nation on earth, poverty is not only acute, but also humiliating. In this engaging book, Barbara Elliott shows that American poverty is right now being addressed in our neighborhoods and cities in an American way –through faith. Read it and be heartened by what is occurring under our very noses; read it to discover what works, and why

--Rev. Michael Sweeney, O.P., President, Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, Berkeley, CA

“The strengthening of civic life is central to the quality of private and public life in the United States. Barbara Elliott has her finger on the pulse of faith-based initiatives and offers wonderful insights into the way faith-based communities are contributing to the renewal of American life through civic responsibility and participation in the common good.”

--Rev. Donald S. Nesti, CSSp, STD, Director of Center for Faith and Culture, University of St. Thomas

“Street Saints gives us a carefully researched bird's eye view of the extraordinary variety of faith-based social initiatives in this country which are changing the lives of thousands.  After reading Barbara Elliott 's inspiring account of how the creative compassion and faith of ordinary citizens is changing the face of their communities, you'll find yourself asking: what can I do?”

-- Sherry Anne Weddell , Co-Founder of the Catherine of Siena Institute

In an extra-biblical epistle written in the middle of the second century the author, Mathetes, writing to his friend Diognetus penned these words: "In a word, what the soul is in a body, the Christians are in the world." In Street Saints Barbara Elliott has captured the soul of America's cities by shining the light on scores of people, programs and strategies that God is using to change lives and transform communities. If there was one book to recommend to those who wanted an overview of what God is doing in cities and were looking for inspiration, models and effective practitioners my recommendation would be this wonderful book.

-- Eric Swanson -author of The Externally Focused Church (2004)

Founder of the Center for Renewal in Houston, Elliott was able to do over 300 interviews with persons who are leaders in successful civic organizations. Although their ethnic, social, and religious backgrounds vary widely, there is a common thread running though all the diverse activities--namely, improvement of urban life in general or some specific group in particular. And the many individuals Elliott portrays on the basis of her interviews do this with singular and exemplary imagination, commitment, and effectiveness. Elliott goes beyond only praising the individuals by uncovering their motivations and describing their work to also go into the founding of their programs, how the programs are run, their interactions with communities and government at different levels, and the keys to their survival and success. Thus, 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.

-- Henry Berry (Southport, CT)

Like so many of my days at the Heritage Foundation, this particular afternoon found me incredibly busy. Meetings to attend, reports to write, phone calls to make, projects to complete – it was a crazy day. When one of my colleagues asked if I had a few minutes to meet with an unexpected visitor, I must admit that my first instinct was to want to "just say no."

However, when he briefly explained her research, I said, "OK, I've got about 10 minutes." I'm so glad I took the time to meet with Barbara J. Elliott – it turned out to be among the most inspiring 10 minutes in many months.

Why? Because Barbara briefly shared with me her experiences from eight years of visiting with and interviewing more than 300 people around the country whose lives are marked by their service to others. She's met everyday heroes who understand that helping to lift the burdens of our fellow citizens is one of life's highest callings, and that the love, care and targeted help individuals provide those in need are far better, more effective and more humane than any government program.

Barbara has written a fabulous book about her experiences that is as inspiring as she is. "Street Saints: Renewing America's Cities" is recommended reading for anyone in need of proof of the decency and kindness of Americans, or ideas on how to contribute in our own communities.

--Rebecca Hagelin (review appeared in www.heritage.org, Townhall.com and WorldNetDaily.com)