Joe Maier

Father Joseph (Joe) H. Maier, C.Ss. R., (born 31 October 1939) is an American Redemptorist priest who lives and works in the Khlong Toei slums of Bangkok, Thailand, where he co-founded the Human Development Foundation (HDF-Mercy Centre) with Sister Maria Chantavarodom in 1973. For over 45 years, he has administered to Bangkok's poorest, providing vulnerable children and families alternatives to and a haven away from drugs, violence, sexual abuse, and prostitution in the squatter slums.

Early life Joseph Maier was born at Cowlitz General Hospital in Longview, Washington in 1939, the son of a Catholic mother, Helen Childs Maier, and a German Lutheran, George Maier. His parents separated when Maier was five years old, and later divorced. Thereafter, Maier was raised primarily by his uncle in Longview. Maier enrolled in a Redemptorist seminary in California as a high school freshman and was assigned to Bangkok upon completion of his studies.

Father Joe first arrived in Thailand in 1967. He ministered in northern Isan and to the Hmong in Laos before settling permanently in Bangkok's "slaughterhouse" slums, next to the Chao Phraya River in the Khlong Toei District.

HDF Mercy Centre Maier and a Thai nun, Maria Chantavarodom, founded the Human Development Foundation (HDF), also known as the Mercy Centre, in 1972. The HDF began as a single one-baht-a-day preschool, and has since expanded into a network of over 30 schools all over Bangkok, which have graduated an estimated 35,000 children.

In 2000, a gift from Atlanta businessman and philanthropist John M. Cook allowed for the major physical expansion of Mercy facilities. The multi-structure compound includes a 400-pupil kindergarten, a home for street kids, a home for mothers and children with AIDS, a 26-bed free AIDS hospice, a legal aid anti-trafficking unit, and various administrative offices that oversee operations ranging from a sponsor-a-child program, to community health and outreach services.

Interfaith dialogue Father Joe has been both praised and criticized for his broad religious philosophy. In a 2004 PBS documentary, he described himself as having been "converted" by Buddhists and Muslims, remarks that have stirred some controversy. He made a similar comment in 2008, when he told CNN, "Buddhists and Muslims taught me how to be a Christian." AIDS activist and American film actor Richard Gere in July 2004; and American president George W. Bush in August 2008.

Father Joe is the recipient of numerous awards and honors in recognition of his life's work. In 2004, he was personally thanked by Queen Sirikit as the foreigner who has made the most significant contribution to the protection of the women and children of Thailand.

Writings Welcome to the Bangkok Slaughterhouse is a collection of 24 short stories about Mercy Centre children, written by Father Joe. All book proceeds go to the Human Development Foundation. In 2009, The Nautilus Book Awards honored The Gospel of Father Joe with a silver medal in the category of Conscious Media-Journalism-Investigative Reporting.