"What can I do?"

That was the question Diane Latiker asked herself as she watched the teens in her Chicago neighborhood succumb at an alarming rate to gangs and gun violence. Her answer started small, as she invited ten kids into her living room to talk about their struggles and dreams. But over the years it grew. With the help of God, her family, and many others along the way, Diane's Kids Off the Block morphed from a personal crusade in her community into a nationally known program that has helped more than three thousand at-risk Chicago teens.

In this powerful, energizing book, she tells her incredible story to those of us who are sick of sitting behind our keyboards watching the world crumble and are ready to do something to make a difference. Through doubt, financial strain, and deep grief over lives lost, Diane has never wavered in her faith that God called her to this life-transforming work. In these pages she'll show you that God is calling you to do something too.

Maybe something that feels small . . . definitely something that will change the world.


Diane Latiker was a Top 10 CNN Hero of the Year in 2011 for her tireless work with at-risk Chicago teens. Recipient of a 2013 BET Shine a Light Award, she is an in-demand speaker and has been featured by national media outlets such as NBC News, CBS News, NPR's Weekend Edition, Ebony magazine, Time magazine, the Huffington Post, USA Today, and more. In 2019, she spoke at the US House Judiciary Committee's first hearing on gun violence in years, and she has just graduated from the Goldin Institute as a 2019 Chicago Peace Fellow. Latiker lives in Chicago.

Bethany Mauger is an award-winning journalist and author who has spent more than a decade writing about everything from the Great Recession to inspiring stories of people making a difference. She lives in Lansing, Michigan, with her husband and two young sons.