Shine a light recognizes that real solutions to youth homelessness emerge not from ivory towers or bureaucratic offices, but from grass roots organizations in São Paulo, Bogotá, and Mexico City. SAL supports these programs and provides the tools with which they can share their cost effective, culturally appropriate models. We are the medium that makes local solutions international.

Latin American civil society has developed extraordinary solutions for street children, from mobile high schools to top-notch ballet troupes, from national political movements to community programs offering alternatives to gangs. Unfortunately, institutional and national barriers have long prevented these programs from learning from each other: when a street based high school wants to begin an arts program, it must begin from scratch, and when a dance troupe wants to work with families, it doesn’t know where to begin. The problem is not a lack of solutions, but a lack of communication.

SAL uses digital technology to democratize this invaluable intellectual capital, connecting community based programs with each other so that no one need reinvent the wheel.

To begin this process, Shine a light linked 230 NGOs in 49 cities into a collaborative network, providing each program access to the knowledge and expertise of the others. You can see the activities of the network on this website, from essays that describe each program to analyses of the lessons learned in twelve different countries.

Meeting personally with each of the 230 NGOs provided the raw data with which Shine a light assessed the needs and strengths of these programs and the children they serve. This research clarified, on an international basis, what works in services for street children (you can read the results of that research by clicking here).

The extensive SAL needs assessment formed the basis for an array of projects, among them,

• In response to the alarming increase in the number of Indian children living and working on the streets of Latin American cities, Shine a light, in collaboration with the Maya NGO Melel Xojobal, developed a CD-ROM curriculum to teach other organizations how to serve indigenous children
• Because street children are at high risk for induction into gangs, in 2004 SAL will collaborate with NGOs in Brasil, Colombia, and Argentina to disseminate their cost effective, community based solutions to gang violence.
• To overcome a serious shortage of qualified staff in Latin American NGOs, SAL created a huge clearing house for volunteer opportunities, linking idealistic young people with the programs they can best help.

SAL also works to provide community based organizations with the material resources they need. We disseminate best practices on fund raising, link NGOs with foundations, and advise on grantwriting.

Finally, since youth homelessness has recently become a field of serious academic study, SAL supports researchers and connects them with the organizations that can use their knowledge to help homeless children. We work to insure that the results of this research leave the ivory tower and serve those that need it.

In collaboration with researchers, Shine a Light publishes "Essays to Understand the Street", a monograph series on the issues that are most important to children living on the street and the organizations that serve them. These essays attempt to bridge the gap between academic researchers and grass-roots social service agencies.

Shine a light has a small budget, but an innovative organizational structure that leverages local resources into international solutions allows us to have an impact far beyond our budget. By democratizing intellectual capital, SAL provides strategic assistance for 230 organizations serving more than 20,000 homeless children. We are proud to be a catalyst in the process that will someday end youth homelessness.

Shine a Light annual reports are available below:

• 2005
• 2004