Geoffrey Canada grew up in the South Bronx. His father abandoned the family when Canada was 4 years old. His mother raised him and his three brothers, supporting the family on low-paid jobs and welfare. Now the organization that Canada runs, Harlem Children’s Zone, is going door-to-door trying to find families like his own, and catch children before they fall through the cracks.

In a cover story last Sunday, the New York Times Magazine called Canada’s work “one of the biggest social experiments of our time.” Canada is determined to boost every kid’s chance of having a shot at the American dream, or at least at middle class. His staff of 650 provides everything from child-rearing skills to parents to computer training and employment assistance to teens.

Click the “Listen” link to hear Geoffrey Canada talk about his crusade to help Harlem’s children.

Guests:

Geoffrey Canada, chief executive of the Harlem Children’s Zone, Inc., which helps children in a 60-block area in Harlem by providing a web of educational, social and medical services. He is author of “Reaching Up for Manhood: Transforming the Lives of Boys in America” and “Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America.”