Safe Passage

05/30/2026

A few days ago, our preschool students harvested radishes they planted and tended themselves.

Watching them proudly hold up what they grew in the company of their family members and classmates, was a sweet reflection of all possible with time, patience, love, and consistent care.

Just as these young students are seeing their dedication come to life, our support community has achieved a major milestone. Thanks to an incredible network of supporters, we officially met our $500,000 ""Signs of Growth"" Spring Campaign goal.

Meeting this milestone ensures we can continue providing the resources our students rely on, but our work does not stop at the finish line. Every contribution from this point forward extends our reach and deepens our commitment to these families.

You can still be a vital part of this harvest as our campaign runs through June 1st. Please consider making a gift today at safepassage.org/grow26 to help sustain this essential work.

🌱 Your support continues to nourish our students' futures.

05/27/2026

"Transformation does not happen once a year when fundraising calendars align. It happens every single morning our students walk through our doors."

These are Erin Mooney's words from her letter to the Safe Passage community this spring, and they reflect something that shapes everything we do.

Right now, Safe Passage students are at the height of their academic year:

🌱 Preparing for Math Olympiads
🌱 Presenting months of research to their communities through their Expeditions
🌱 Preparing for university entry requirements and navigating everything that comes with it
🌱 Beginning each school day with mindfulness and meditation

Safe Passage no longer defines its students by the challenges surrounding them. Students define themselves, and what they are building every single day is proof of what consistent support makes possible. The work on the ground does not pause for a fundraising calendar, and neither do we.

Our Signs of Growth campaign is active through June 1st, be a part of the transformative change! Give at safepassage.org/grow26.

05/25/2026

🌱 We did it — and we're not done yet.

Thanks to an incredible community of supporters, we have reached our $500,000 goal for the Signs of Growth Campaign.

Every dollar raised was matched 1:1, and the impact you made is already taking root. But our campaign runs through June 1st — and every gift from here forward continues to nourish our students like those beautiful Spring showers that bring all the flowers!

There is no finish line for a child still in school.

Economists who study human capital investment in Central America have documented what sustained education, nutrition, and wellness support cultivate over a lifetime: higher earnings, healthier families, and children who are two to three times more likely to finish school themselves.

University graduates in Guatemala earn between $15,000 and $25,000 annually, compared to around $2,000 without educational intervention. When you apply that across a single year's cohort of Safe Passage students, the estimated lifetime economic value generated by $500,000 reaches $8 million and beyond.

Every dollar given now adds to that story. Give before June 1st at safepassage.org/grow26.

05/25/2026

05/25/2026

Muchísimas gracias PCL Guatemala!

05/25/2026

Muchísimas gracias por la visita!

05/19/2026

How $500,000 Becomes $8 Million

Safe Passage's annual program budget sets off a chain of human investment whose returns economists have measured, replicated, and documented across Central America and the developing world.

The research behind it:

🌱 Every $1 invested in early childhood nutrition returns $16 to $48 in lifetime economic productivity
🌱 University graduates in Central America earn up to $25,000 a year compared to around $2,500 without intervention
🌱 English and technical certification increases employable wages by 20 to 40% in Guatemala's formal sector
🌱 Children of educated parents are 2 to 3 times more likely to complete secondary school themselves

When you add it up across a single year's cohort of students, the estimated lifetime economic value generated by $500,000 reaches $8 million and beyond.

Transparency matters to us, so here is what that looks like on the ground: Safe Passage currently has around 12 university placements per year, in a country where less than 1% of young people from communities like ours ever make it to university. Each of those students represents a measurable shift in what becomes possible for their family and their community for decades to come.

Every gift, at any size, is part of what makes this possible.

Our Spring Campaign closes June 1st, and a 1:1 match is still active, meaning every dollar given right now is doubled.

Give at safepassage.org/grow26.

05/15/2026

This International Day of Families, the UN is drawing attention to how widening inequalities shape family life and determine what futures children can access, and for the families Safe Passage has spent over 25 years building alongside in the communities surrounding Guatemala City's municipal landfill, these are not abstract policy concerns.

They are the daily reality our community navigates together.

The families we serve face compounding pressures that rarely come one at a time:

🌱 Around 75% rely on landfill work for income, earning between $1.50 and $3.00 a day
🌱 Nationally, only 41% of youth reach high school and less than 1% make it to university
🌱 An estimated 1 in 5 children in Guatemala experience mental health challenges, yet fewer than 20% receive any form of care

Safe Passage's model is built to address these gaps together, because a child's ability to learn depends on whether they are fed, feel safe, and whether their family has support.

Over 25 years, we have seen what becomes possible when education, nutrition, wellness, and family services work as one integrated system: students graduating, entering universities, and returning to their communities as professionals, families growing more stable, more connected, and better equipped to support the next generation.

Multi-generational change takes shape when a child who grew up at Safe Passage becomes the first in their family to earn a university degree, and then shows up for the children coming after them.

To learn more about our impact, visit safepassage.org