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Street Wise: Over 20 years ago, a former Catholic brother invested in the future of Haitian street children. Their success has paid him back ever since.

By Kevin Sites, Thu May 11, 8:38 PM ET

It started with a thousand bucks.

A thousand bucks usually won't buy you much long-term security, but in Haiti in 1985, it was a down payment on the future.

It got Michael Geilenfeld six months rent on a four-bedroom house. In that house he would give five Haitian boys at least six months off from their punishing lives on the streets of Port-au-Prince.

Geilenfeld was a pro at this kind of work. He was a Missionaries of Charity Brother, an order founded by Mother Teresa. He had spent eleven years working with abandoned children in some of the world's toughest places: Vietnam, Cambodia, Haiti, and El Salvador.

But this new project was bold by any measure. He had $400 left after rent to take care of the boys. That, and some faith.

It paid off.

Word spread through the media about what he was trying to do: help children that had been all but invisible their entire lives.

Since that time, over 20 years ago, Geilenfeld's idea turned into the St. Joseph's Home for Boys, which has helped over 400 street children find a better life.

Usually twenty boys at a time stay at the home, experiencing perhaps the first family atmosphere they've ever really known. In this comfortable, art-filled refuge in the middle of Port-au-Prince, the boys learn responsibility to others.

They help maintain the home, go to school, and participate in sports and art programs. They even get specialized instruction in music and dance. Some of the boys join the Resurrection Dance Theatre of Haiti, formed by the St. Joseph's Home, which performs at venues around the world.

"The dance often reflects some of the boy's own life experiences," Geilenfeld says. "So it's often a healing process for them."

Geilenfeld's original vision has grown into two other houses in Haiti. Wings of Hope takes care of mentally and physically disabled children; Trinity House, another home for street children, is staffed by "graduates" of St. Joseph's.

To help support the houses, Geilenfeld has made guest rooms available at both St. Joseph's and Wings of Hope so that visitors to Haiti can learn about the programs and witness the struggles and evolution of those who live there. The boys themselves learn skills and earn money by maintaining the guest accommodations.

St. Joseph's isn't affiliated with any specific denomination, but is supported by two nonprofit international partners, Hearts with Haiti and Broken Wings Missions.

To learn more about the St. Joseph's Family or to financially support the program, visit:

Hearts With Haiti:

http://www.heartswithhaiti.org/

Email: help@heartswithhaiti.org

Broken Wings Mission:

http://www3.sympatico.ca/brokenwings/