America Kennedy snapped a picture of an Aurora police car, the lights flashing. She took another of a house across from the Salvation Army’s Lambuth Family Center, a shelter on Federal Boulevard.

The pictures were the first she has taken with a new Kodak digital camera given to her by “Pictures of Hope,” a nonprofit that introduces homeless children to photography. To America, 10, who wants to be a police officer, the snapshots represent dreams.

“I want to be a cop, and I took a picture of a blue house, right there, because we live in a hotel,” she said.

She was among more than a dozen homeless children who received the cameras at the shelter Monday. The kids can print and upload their photos at the shelter.

The program is the brainchild of Linda Solomon, a one-time Detroit News columnist and photojournalist who has photographed celebrities from Frank Sinatra to Beyonce, and whose work includes photo essays on Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman and others in the book “People We Know, Horses They Love.”

Solomon started giving cameras to poor children after finding she could buy $3 disposables and pass them out as gifts.

Her mother, a teacher, suggested she use the cameras to teach children photography.

She created Pictures of Hope and since has been bringing the program to schools and shelters across the country.

Solomon works with corporate sponsors like Skinnytees, whose founder, Linda Schlesinger-Wagner, provided money to produce this year’s holiday note cards. The cards will be decorated with pictures taken by these children, and they will be sold to raise money.

All proceeds will go to the Salvation Army to help those staying at the Lambuth Family Center.

Using a camera can help build self-esteem in children, Solomon said.

“It showed that they could express feelings they couldn’t express easily through photography,” she said.

For some, the program has provided a path to a brighter future than they could imagine as youngsters witnessing the struggles of hard-pressed families.

Brittnie Pemberton, now 19, was 9 and living in a Salvation Army shelter in San Diego when she participated in the program.

She and other homeless kids were told to make a list of the things they hoped for and given disposable cameras.

Pemberton, who was at the Monday event, dreamed of college, but “before the program, I was feeling really helpless. My family was broken,” she said.

Pemberton took a picture of the San Diego State University sign at the entrance to the school’s campus.

Her photo, along with others made by kids in the program, was printed on holiday note cards, along with her name, age and dream: a college scholarship.

School officials saw the card, and San Diego State awarded her a full scholarship when she was 10.

She is now in her sophomore year at the school, where she studies neuropsychology.

Before the children received their cameras Monday, all made a list of the things they dream of.

Solomon gave the group a short photography lesson and told them that when she was a kid and began taking pictures, the camera became her friend.

“I never feel lonely when I have a camera,” she said.

She showed them slides, some taken by her, others by children. One was of a 6-year-old who dressed a kitten in baby clothes and posed the animal in a toy stroller. Solomon told them how to get a dog to cooperate when being photographed, and she advised them how to frame a shot.

Then the cameras, contributed by Walgreens, were distributed.

“It was a surprise,” said Ionna Rivera, 12, who wants to own a restaurant someday. She plans to take photos of her family and the Mexican food she loves to cook.

After three years of homelessness, she realizes “things may get hard, but if you just keep your head up, you can stick through hard times,” she said.

After receiving the cameras, the kids met mentors who will work with them as part of the program.

Among them was Mariana Ledezma, 38, associate director of the Community Campus Partnership at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus.

“Pictures can do so much, and I already see so many happy faces,” said Ledezma, glancing around at excited children. “I would hope they get inspired to follow their dreams.”

Pictures of Hope cards can be ordered at lambuthfamilycenter.salvationarmy.org, or call 303-860-5459. An official unveiling of the “Pictures of Hope” greeting card will take place on Nov. 11 at the Salvation Army, 802 Quari Court, Aurora.