This chapter gives an account of the Youth Off The Streets programme, which I commenced in Sydney in 1991. Youth Off The Streets is a community organisation working for young people who suffer from one or more of several problems: they may be chronically homeless, drug dependent, recovering from abuse and/or long term disengaged from schooling, and as a result they are abjectly disadvantaged. We support these young people as they work to turn their lives around and overcome immense personal traumas caused by neglect and physical, psychological and emotional abuse. The programme is strongly committed to the principle that all such youth are capable of rehabilitation. One essential aspect of their rehabilitation will be participation in effective educational activity, and we recognise that literacy is a necessary resource to help them achieve an adequate education and develop into independent responsible beings.