An experience with health promotion in the inner city

South El Monte, California, is a town 10 miles east of Los Angeles with a per capita annual income of $6454 and a population that is 90% Latino. The UCLA School of Public Health and Center for Health Promotion worked with local community leaders to develop a Health Promotion Council in 1989. An ''empowerment'' model compatible with the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion guided the Council. Important challenges included drawing leadership from grassroots people instead of community leaders, allowing the council to set the health priorities agenda, creating an atmosphere that attracts residents, and not manipulating projects to meet the needs of evaluation protocols.