Peace Community Center (PCC) was first envisioned by Peace Lutheran Church (PLC) in a 1992 Church council retreat. In the years since, PCC has become a thriving reality. Here the growth of PCC is demonstrated.

Building Peace: PCC is the vision turned reality of Peace Lutheran Church, a small Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregation in the Hilltop that represents the racial, ethnic, age, and economic diversity of its neighborhood. PCC was built through the raising of $1.5 million. The money was raised over a nine-year period, and the Community Center officially opened in the fall of 2001.

Financial Growth: The Community Center was incorporated in 1996, and through the building phase, ran several of Peace Lutheran’s outreach programs, most notably the April and October feeding program. From 1996 through 2001, approximately $50,000 was raised for programming. The mortgage was paid off in 2003. The Community Center's annual budget is now over $600,000 per year.

Program Growth: PCC was built on the foundation of PLC’s Feeding Program. This program, now run by the Community Center, provides the host and clean-up, while partner congregations and community organizations provide the hot meals. The feeding program currently provides 4,000 to 5,000 meals monthly during April and October. Today we primarily provide educational programs, including: Camp Peace, KidREACH, Hilltop FLITE, Hilltop Scholars, and Alumni Support.

Staffing: When PCC opened its doors it had no paid staff. Church staff members and volunteers led the few programs that were run at PCC. Over the first decade, paid staff grew significantly:

2001 - Half time Volunteer Director
2002 - Half time Director (paid), Volunteer Counselor (1-day per week)
2003 - Full time Director (paid), 2 full time AmeriCorps members
2004 - Administrative Assistant (10 hrs a week), Custodian (5 hours a week); 3 AmeriCorps members
2005 - Full time Education Director, 4 AmeriCorps members
2008 - Full time Hilltop Scholars Director, 5 AmeriCorps members
2010 - Full time Alumni Support Director, Full time Development Director, 6 AmeriCorps members
2011 - Full time Middle School Program Director, Full time Elementary Programs/Public Relations Director, 8 AmeriCorps members