ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Celebrated, bestselling authors have generously agreed to feature key excerpts from their books in People of Hope: Faith-Filled Stories of Neighbors Helping Neighbors, a nationwide storytelling initiative and traveling museum produced by Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA). One of the core components of the People of Hope Museum, which will travel the country for three years beginning in March 2026, is a listening library featuring curated 2- to 4-minute audio segments from seminal works on poverty, social isolation, bridgebuilding and community action.
Each excerpt in the listening library is available in both English and Spanish, allowing visitors to listen to, or follow along with, insightful and moving writing from bestselling authors, world-renowned academics and groundbreaking spiritual leaders. The full list of authors and books featured in the People of Hope Museum learning library follows:
- Arthur C. Brooks and Oprah Winfrey, Build The Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier
- Matthew Desmond, Poverty, by America
- Maria Foscarinis, And Housing for All: The Fight to End Homelessness in America
- Pope Francis and Austen Ivereigh, Let us Dream: The Path to a Better Future
- Joanne Samuel Goldblum and Colleen Shaddox, Broke in America: Seeing, Understanding, and Ending U.S. Poverty
- Seth D. Kaplan, Fragile Neighborhoods: Repairing American Society, One Zip Code at a Time
- Mack McCarter with Tim Muldoon, How to Remake the World Neighborhood by Neighborhood
- Robert D. Putnam, Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis
- Gary Smith, SJ, Radical Compassion: Finding Christ in the Heart of the Poor
- Meghan Sullivan and Paul Blaschko, The Good Life Method: Reasoning through the Big Questions of Happiness, Faith, and Meaning
Made possible by a $5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., the People of Hope Museum brings stories of compassion directly to communities, showing how small acts of generosity can strengthen neighborhoods and bring faith to life. To make sure you don’t miss the museum’s visit to your community, browse our Tour Stops page and sign up for updates.