MTV isn’t exactly known for telling stories about the plight of homeless teenage immigrants and the transformative power of art. But that’s about to change!

On August 17th (10:00 p.m. ET/PT), the network that brought us “The Jersey Shore” and the more recent spinoff, “Snooki and JWOWW,” will air the premiere of Shine Global’s award-winning documentary “Inocente,” a heartbreaking film that tells the story of a resilient 15 year-old Latina named Inocente who, as an undocumented homeless immigrant, refuses to surrender to the bleakness of her surroundings and steadfastly pursues her dream of becoming an artist.

Although the young Latina star of the documentary is unique as an artist, her story, sadly, isn’t so unique.

According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, there are about 1.7 million homeless youth under the age of 18 in the United States. To date, this country continues to have the largest number of homeless women and children of any industrialized nation. MTV is hoping that the film, which won the “Best Documentary Short” at the 2012 San Antonio Film Festival, will help shed a light on current issues of immigration and homelessness in America, by putting a human face on those issues.

Read more at The Huffington Post