After giving Ionna a high five, Aurora Salvation Army officer Tanya Pemberton said, “I believe that one day you will be a restaurant owner.”
Ionna was one of 16 homeless kids between the age of 7 and 14 who participated in , a program that provides kids in the Denver metro area with cameras and mentors, then tasks them with taking photos that represent their dreams.
Picture of Hope founder Linda Solomon picked one photo from each kid to put on greeting cards. All proceeds from card sales will go to the Salvation Army. The chosen photos were also blown up and put on posters for the kids to sign and take home.
“I think it will be a memory that I will always have,” Ionna said. “Before I didn’t really think I was going to make it to college, but now I think I can because they helped me believe itap something I can do.”
Ionna said her dream was to open a Mexican restaurant so her mentor Mary Conway took her to Santiago’s. But when they stood outside, Ionna hesitated, afraid to go in.
As Ionna signed her name on the poster, her mother, Alexia Collins, took photos. Ionna’s brother also participated in the program and they shared a camera.
“I believe it’s touching,” Collins said. “Just to know that they do have an opportunity with the support of others. It shows them not to give up, there is hope to pursue their dreams.”
Jeremy White said it was good to see his 14-year-old son Alex Childs set out with his mentor for a day trying to accomplish a goal.
Alex said one of his hopes was to go to college. So he went to a school and took photos of a sign advertising a scholarship. He plans to start his first college class next summer.
White said it was good to see Alex “go out there with other kids that also have dreams and hopes.” He added, “It’s just not, ‘Oh, we’re kids, we don’t have dreams.'”
During the 2014-2015 school year, 24,685 students in Colorado Public Schools were homeless, according to the . That number has more than tripled since the 2003-2004 school year when 7,319 students experienced homelessness.
Retired school teacher Sue Barnes heard about Pictures of Hope and immediately e-mailed Solomon, asking her to help. Solomon, a photojournalist, had taken her program to communities across the country, but never to Colorado. After hearing about the number of homeless youth in Denver and Aurora, she said she knew she had to make the trip.
“It’s all about building self-esteem and showing these kids that their dreams matter,” Solomon said.
She said it is important to have the kids think about what their dreams are and then work to visualize them in a photo.
“Through photography, they share things that they really haven’t shared verbally,” Solomon said. “It’s a way for these children to open their hearts.”
People can purchase the greeting cards online at.
