Mean Streets, Kind Heart

The Father Chris Riley Story

By: Sue Williams

Narrated by: Kate Hood

Australian street kids are the forgotten underclass of society, an ever-increasing pool of children who are often abused, frequently in the clutches of drug dealers, and usually engaged in crime just to make enough money to stay alive. Their childhood dreams of a happy, loving future are lost forever.

This audiobook tells of Father Riley's faltering first steps towards helping such children, and his determination to pledge the rest of his life to giving them back their dreams. It tells of the heartbreaking situations he's witnessed, the touching tales of kids with nothing left but their own will to survive and the way he's been able to touch so many of their lives. Throughout the triumphs and the tears is Father Riley's inimitable humour, his sense of fun and the indomitable spirit that has entranced so many of the kids he's helped.

©2003 Sue Williams (P)2003 Bolinda Publishing

Critic reviews

"Father Chris Riley is an uncanonised saint. Harrowing tales told without emotion. Gripping." (The Daily Telegraph)

"This story is hugely impressive. It takes an exceptional person to withstand the long hours, emotional demands and bureaucratic red tape that can exhaust even the most well-meaning in welfare work." (The Sydney Morning Herald)

"The story of Father Chris Riley, radical Salesian priest and the man behind the Youth Off The Streets charity, is genuinely remarkable." (Saturday Age)

Amazing Man Who’s all heart

Father Chris Riley is one of a kind. His whole life is about saving the lost, rejected, and most troubled kids of Australia. The head of Youth off the Streets is unconventional and tough. And the kids, from the abused to abusers themselves, adore him. What a story of caring and perseverance.