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Father Chris Riley, CEO and founder of Youth Off The Streets, was today honoured to receive the individual 2006 Austcare Paul Cullen Humanitarian Award.
“The satisfaction I get from working with the greatest people in the world, the kids, is honour enough for me. However, I am truly grateful to be recognised by an organisation such as Austcare. This award will help to profile the work of Youth Off The Streets and therefore help me to reach more young people”, said Father Riley. Father Chris Riley’s mission through Youth Off The Streets is to provide all young people with the opportunity to achieve their greatest potential and to break the cycle of poverty, disadvantage and marginalisation. Since 1991, programs run through Youth Off The Streets have helped over 60,000 young people. After seeing the devastation of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, Father Riley inspired Australians to support his efforts to raise $2 million in funds, which enabled the establishment of a Children’s Care Centre in Aceh, Indonesia. The care centre provides accommodation, medical attention, counselling and access to education for children and youth whose parents were killed or lost in the disaster. In East Timor, Father Chris Riley’s Youth Off The Streets supports an orphanage in Baguia through providing funding for renovations, vehicles, service learning projects and donations of food, clothing, educational and sporting equipment. In Australia, Father Riley continues to develop and expand a range of programmes that provide services including supported accommodation; counselling; detoxification; education; outreach and mentoring to disadvantaged youth. The Austcare 2006 Paul Cullen Humanitarian Awards serve to raise public awareness of the issues facing refugees and internally displaced people overseas. Further information about the awards can be found at: www.austcare.org.au Father Riley was recently appointed as a Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia (June 2006). He has previously been awarded the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence and Outstanding Contribution (2004), NSW Australian of the Year (NSW Govt 2003), the Australian Achievers Award (Australia Day National Council 1998), The Vocational Excellence Award (Rotary 1997) and Humanitarian of the Year (Variety Club 1995).
For images or further information about Youth Off The Streets please contact:
Ina Mullin
Media Coordinator
Youth Off The Streets
Ph: 8332 5000 / 0412 377 217
Email:
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