While many of the standard Young Life steps for starting a new area also hold true for Multicultural Young Life, there are a few specific steps to be addressed for the urban areas.

• Develop and implement a prayer strategy.
• The Multicultural vice president, or his or her representative, is brought into the process.
• Research and understand what God is already doing within the targeted community.
• Assess the needs of the community.
• It is very important to find a well-connected champion who will be a partner in the development of the new area.
• Develop a steering committee of at least 10 people (three to five members from the targeted community). Some of the committee members need to have access to financial resources.
• Committee needs to develop a spirit, which will lead to collaborative relationships with other positive individuals and groups serving the community.
• The first two years of the urban budget must be pledged with four months cash in the bank before a staff person is hired.
• If the committee decides to recruit a person of color, refer to the profile of a Multicultural Young Life staff person of color (contact the Multicultural office for this).
• The Multicultural vice president, or his or her representative, needs to be a part of the interview and hiring process.
• A supervision, training and evaluation plan needs to be in place before the staff person starts.