Peace Community Center was first envisioned by Peace Lutheran Church in a 1992 Church council retreat. In the fourteen 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 1.4 million dollars. The money was raised over an eight-year period, and the Community Center officially opened in the Fall of 2000.
• 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, an approximate $50,000 was raised for programming. Since the mortgage was paid off in 2003, the Community Center has established an annual budget of $210,000 and a $120,000 surplus.
• 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.

  We provide programs including: Camp Peace—a summer day camp that serves 60-75 elementary students with a 5-week camp experience; KidREACH Tutoring, which provides 12 to 15 students one-on-one tutoring once a week; 4-H, which provides opportunities for 20 to 25 students to learn life and leadership skills; Hilltop Scholars, which provides after-school tutoring and mentoring to 75 students per year.

  Through our AmeriCorps Members, we provide 32 hours a week of in-class educational support to approximately 200 Foss High School students.

  Staffing: Just four years ago, PCC had no paid staff. Church staff members and volunteers led the few programs that were run at PCC. The following staff positions were developed during the past 4 years:

• 1. 2001/2002 — ½ time Volunteer Director
  2. 2002/2003 — ½ time Director (paid), Volunteer Counselor (1-day per week)
  3. 2003/2004 — Fulltime Director, 2 fulltime AmeriCorps members
  4. 2004/2005 — Administrative Assistant (10 hrs a week), Custodian (5 hours a week); 3 fulltime AmeriCorps Members
  5. 2005/2006 — Fulltime Director of Education, 4 fulltime AmeriCorps Members.

During the last four years PCC has built upon PLC’s foundation of service to build a strong foundation of staffing and programs for future growth.