In 2005, Brotherhood Crusade began work on a bilingual comprehensive, coordinated community development plan to direct community-wide efforts to address 16 risk factors and 44 adverse public health conditions plaguing South Los Angeles. Consequently, the Brotherhood Crusade Ten-Year Community Development Plan was developed. It prescribes integrating two profound approaches.

1. The program should originate from the perspective of ensuring that the needs of every child and youth in South Los Angeles are met. South Los Angeles is dominated by children and youth. Fully, 2% of its population of 750,000 is represented by youth under the age of 17. Moreover, if you eet the needs of every person in a child’s immediate circle of influence, more than 90% of South Los Angeles’ population will be served.

2. The program should use schools and appropriate community-based facilities as the lynchpin for offering necessary services and resources. The goal should be to ensure that every community resident is within walking distance (less than 1 mile) of at least one family resource center and every center should be equipped and staffed to serve shut-ins and those with transportation issues.

Simply put, the Ten-Year Community Development Plan seeks to strategically assimilate the services and resources of a multitude of collaborative partners and, through this coalition, locate non-threatening and inviting full service family resource centers throughout South Los Angeles such that every resident will be able to access and obtain the human and social services they need without exception.

In developing a means to achieve the Ten-Year Plan, the Brotherhood Crusade Comprehensive, Coordinated, Evidence? and Research-Based Youth Development Program was created. The Program is designed to address the unmet needs of every South Los Angeles youth, their families, and the people within their circle of influence. Preliminary elements of the Program were initiated in September of 2007. However, the plan is expected to be launched in its entirety in January of 2010.