From the Heart of One Man

Gang violence. Drugs. Juvenile delinquency. In Chandler? Not possible, most would say. Yet Henry Salinas came face-to-face with this growing problem each day he drove through his Chandler neighborhood. Certainly someone, some agency was taking responsibility to monitor and clean up these gang-infested, redevelopment areas? Sadly, the problem went unaddressed. Henry decided enough was enough.

In 1991, Henry and his volunteers took to the streets, offering these troubled youth an alternative to a life of apathy and despair. These kids needed help. Help dealing with the extensive pressures facing them – living in poverty, dealing with friends who use illegal drugs, being pressured to join a gang, and all the challenges associated with living in a single-parent family.

The Founding of ICAN

Henry knew that these kids had no place to go, no place that truly understood them and no one to offer the guidance necessary to believe in themselves and their future.

There are other after-school, youth service programs out there. Why couldn't these kids find help and support in these mainstream agencies? Simply, their backgrounds are too different. Their lives filled with too many problems. Their experiences too risky. The ability to pay non-existent. What these kids needed was a place that could align programs with the unique