ALAS, officially established in October 2005, emerged in response to the increasing need of the Latino community of the CSRA to improve its quality of life. In 2003, a group of community leaders realized that the Latino population was experiencing an accelerated increase in the number of families in the CSRA area. The objective of these leaders was to marshal the resources necessary to provide programs and to enlist the cooperation of community based organizations, businesses, and governmental entities in promoting the general well-being of the local Latino community.