Hope’s vision for Brazil was launched in 1991 when thousands of vulnerable street children were being systematically killed by gunmen largely hired by local business leaders.  Their purpose for these killings was to eradicate a “public nuisance” - street children

Hope Unlimited was founded by Rev. Jack Smith, son Philip Smith, and David Swoap, the former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Hope’s respected track record can be traced to 1971 when founders Jack and Evangel Smith established parent ministry, Hope Enterprises, in Ethiopia.  This ministry which began helping street children is today providing expanded assistance to nearly 10,000 children in 32 sites and is fully indigenous and self-sustaining.  This Ethiopian model became the conceptual framework upon which Hope Unlimited built and refined its program in Brazil.  Consistent with the ministry’s philosophy and tradition, Hope strives to achieve local ownership and sustainability.