History of Opearation Exodus

In 1988, Luis Iza, Jr., a businessman and Sunday school teacher in a local church, was approached by an impoverished mother whose 12-year-old son was living in fear for his life due to the danger and harassment he faced after he refused to join a gang from the neighborhood. Greatly moved to help, Mr. Iza shared this child’s plight with a boarding school. Equally moved, the school readily accepted the boy on a scholarship basis. As a result of the positive changes education make in this child’s life, as well as the violence and lack of academic challenge in the Washington Heights schools, Mr. Iza and a group of parents from a Latino church founded Operation Exodus Inner City.