Browsing through the old PRC photographs is a great way to see the power of a solid vision, and the commitment inspired by that vision. The origins of the PRC 30-plus years of evolution are somewhat blurred. We were formally incorporated in 1983, but by then the PRC was a well-known, respected force in DuPage human services.

What is clear is that the PRC has been at the center of every social change that has occurred in this community since the 1960's, when a group of people, called the Religious Education Community (REC), began to gather, to study, pray, discuss, and creatively act on critical social issues of the day. With the Bible in one hand and the daily newspaper in the other, these families became involved in civil rights, fair housing, the peace movement, and established a Peace-Justice Center to respond to the social challenges facing the local community.

The REC community found a spiritual home at the Maryknoll seminary in Glen Ellyn, among the missionaries reaching out to Latin America and other Third World countries. Fr. Tom Peyton, M.M. provided spiritual leadership, and Dorothy McIntyre emerged as a strong lay leader in the group, translating the vision into daily community activism. People began to bring food to the Sunday liturgies, for families in the local area, as a concrete response to the Gospel.

By 1975, REC members tried to establish a shelter for homeless families, but the necessary funds couldn't be raised. That effort eventually grew into the Family Shelter Service, to serve women caught in domestic violence.

Actions for community change formed over several years, and by 1980, the organization was known as the People's Resource Center, with Dorothy McIntyre as the Executive Director. Food, short-term crisis assistance, and a calendar of free events and resources formed the core services.

For the next 15 years, the PRC transformed itself several times in order to develop several significant community services, most notably DuPage P.A.D.S., and the DuPage Community Clinic. After a period of time under PRC's umbrella, both organizations were spun off as separate not-for-profit agencies.

Dorothy McIntyre showed the way for our community to respond, not by waiting for an Act of Congress, but right now, and right here. Dorothy McIntyre was diagnosed with cancer in July, 1994, and after a short illness, she died in September. The Board and volunteers carried on the PRC work until Mary Ellen Durbin was hired as Executive Director in April, 1995.