Amorrison24

File:031 CROP.jpgHanley Denning was the founder of Safe Passage or Camino Seguro. She was born on March 9th, 1970, in Yarmouth Maine. Denning graduated from High School in 1988 and began attending Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. She graduated from Bowdoin in 1992 with a degree in Psychology. After she graduated from Bowdoin College she received her Master's Degree in Education at Wheelock College.

After graduating from Wheelock College Denning began her career as a social worker in North Carolina. Many of Denning's students were Spanish speaking, leaving her frustrated because she had difficulty understanding them. In 1997 , with the hopes of being able to improve her Spanish, Denning traveled to Guatemala to volunteer and visited the Guatemala City Garbage Dump. At the dump children dug through the piles of trash looking for anything they could eat, sell, or use for shelter. None of these kids were going to school because they could not afford the uniforms, supplies, and other miscellaneous costs. Immediately Denning sold her car and laptop and used the money to open Safe Passage in a nearby church. In 1994 Barbara Bush, and Former President George H.W. Bush traveled to Guatemala City. They distributed medical supplies to hospitals. In 1999 there were 46 students enrolled at Safe Passage and another seventy that came by when they were not working in the dump. Safe Passage currently provides educational enrichment, health and public school costs and enrollnment help for over 550 students from the Guatemala City garbage dump community

Eventually there was a need to expand and to find a place that was safer and not so close to the dump. Safe Passage moved to a nicer and safer location where they began and Early Childhood Center or the Escuelita and the Adult Literacy Program Safe Passage was growing, and more and more adults and children were being helped.

On January 18, 2007 Denning was killed in a car accident when a bus hit her vehicle head on outside Guatemala City. Denning received commendations from the United States Senate, and Maine State senate for her work with the children and families of the Guatemala City garbage dump.