Salaam Baalak Trust – Mumbai opened its first center in 1989 as a result of the film, Salaam Bombay!, by Mira Nair, Director. The film is about street life in Mumbai and most of the young actors who appeared in the film were actual street children. They received dramatic training at a special workshop in Mumbai before they appeared in the film. It was incredible to see how these kids, living by their wits on the street, responded to the classes and compassion of the film crew. This was just the inspiration Dinaz Stafford, Zarin Gupta and others needed to start a place in Mumbai these kids could come for the necessary assistance to move from the streets to mainstream life.

In the last twenty two years, the Trust has helped thousands of children come off the streets and into a safe and nurturing environment. Today SBT provides a holistic safety net of services catering to the individual needs of street children in Mumbai, covering the entire area of child development from physical and medical needs to encompassing the educational, creative, cognitive, social and vocational needs of the children.

With more than 200,000 children living on the streets of Mumbai and children arriving weekly at the doorsteps of the Salaam Baalak centers asking for assistance in some form, Salaam Baalak is as relevant today as it was in 1989.