In 1993, South El Paso was 95 percent Hispanic. Per capita income was less than $3,000 a year, and unemployment was almost 11 percent in El Paso County and higher in South El Paso. According to a 1991 study by Zero Population Growth, lack of employment, substance abuse, gangs (of which 4% of the adult population were members), substandard living, and a high crime rate made El Paso the fourth worst city in the nation for child stress and raising children.

Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe participated in the Hispanic Health Needs Assessment during the first year of the program. The Profiles in Health report based on the assessment reported that for four leading causes of death, Hispanic mortality rates were 30 percent higher than the goal rates of Healthy People. The infant mortality rate for Hispanics in the community was higher than for the general El Paso population and the national rate for Hispanics; and 65 percent of community residents reported difficulty in getting needed health care services.

The written proposal submitted for the implementation phase was reviewed by the National Advisory Committee along with the proposals from the other seven sites. Members of the National Advisory Committee scored each section of the proposals on a 100-point scale. The committee prepared written evaluation reports for each proposal, including their strengths and weaknesses. Based on the committee's criteria, Centro de Salud Familiar Le Fe was not selected to receive implementation funding.

The project was part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Program to Address Sociocultural Barriers to Health Care in Hispanic Communities national program.