Boys and Men of Color in the United States are confronted with a wide variety of hardships that are not easily explained or understood.  They are populating prisons and immigration detention centers, dropping out of high school or not passing the CA High School Exit Exam, and over-represented in the service industry at alarming degrees.  Young Latino men, especially, have among the lowest wages earned in the country, a rapidly growing rate of HIV/AIDS, and one of the highest mortality rates due to homicide.  Although there has been a growing interest in the status of men in American society, there is a glaring lack of research and collaborative efforts of community based organizations and residents working together to reduce health, educational and economic disparities among boys and men of color. But while the problems are clearly complex, our work here in Santa Ana tells us that not only are there solutions to these problems, but that we already know some of the answers. 

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