A Plan for Organizational Independence

Founded in1990, as an incubator project of Bronx Community College (BCC), Health Force has grown into a $2.5 million peer-based health prevention and education program that trains adults and youth in the South Bronx to serve as AIDS and Asthma peer educators. Due to its rapid growth, BCC and Health Force recently decided that the project should become an independent entity. To that end, the Capstone team developed a strategic plan for organizational independence for Health Force. The Capstone team provided Health Force with the following: 1) a step-by-step plan for incorporating itself; 2) guidance on organizational issues such as the feasibility of transferring current contracts; 3) a cost analyses for developing a benefits plan; and 4) a marketing plan to “sell” program services to other entities to generate unrestricted revenue. In addition the Capstone team identified legal, technical assistance, and administrative resources that could assist Health Force in becoming a self-sustaining organization.