A Research and Development Test bed – The ADRO Initiative

The Legacy XXI Institute has demonstrated its sustainable cultural shift strategy and methodology with its ADRO program in what has traditionally been referred to as Los Angeles’ “Skid Row,” arguably the worst homeless repository in the nation. The demands of the first model initiative included:

1. The initiative had to be volunteer driven – including professionals participating as “volunteers”;

2. The initiative required minimum expenses for maximum, accountable results;

3. The initiative had to include an intentional plan to reduce the marketplace of despair;

4. The initiative needed to achieve a community-wide impact driven by demand for empowerment-focused shifts; and,

5. The initiative needed to begin to be a model to shift the culture of social service providers, government programs at all levels, as well as public and private funders.

Legacy sought an intransigent societal challenge. The breakdown needed to meet these criteria:

• The problem had a history of virtually unlimited funding at the national /state /municipal levels, as well as an abundance of public and private funders.
• Addressing the existing problem was a dedicated, diverse group of well-funded professionals.
• The challenge had multi-generational patterns within our society.
• The condition continued to expand in the face of multiple national, state and local programs to end it.
• The problem is perceived to be intransigent.

Legacy sought a societal challenge that did not lack for support, good intentions, or well-meaning advocates, and despite this paradigm of care, has produced no diminution in numbers of people who continue to suffer and desire an alternative.

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