Strategic Plan

This strategic plan was developed through an intentional, community-centered process grounded in listening, relationship, and discernment. Following the suspension of programming in 2023 and a period of organizational stabilization, the Board of Directors initiated a comprehensive strategic planning effort to reimagine Peace Community Center’s future in partnership with the Hilltop community and Peace Lutheran Church.

The process included the formation of a Community Engagement Advisory Committee and a robust engagement strategy that featured interviews with community leaders, focus groups, a community-wide survey, and a landscape assessment. Participants included Hilltop residents, Peace Lutheran Church members and staff, community partners, donors, former Center staff, and volunteers. Throughout this process, the Board sought not only feedback, but wisdom—listening for what brings hope, where trust resides, and how Peace Community Center might respond faithfully and responsibly to current community needs.

Several consistent themes emerged: the enduring value of Peace’s relational culture; the importance of transparency and accountability; a strong desire to maintain and strengthen the partnership with Peace Lutheran Church; and an invitation to broaden the Center’s focus to address housing stability and family well-being alongside youth development. These insights directly informed the mission, values, strategic priorities, and recommendations outlined in this plan.

At its core, this strategic plan represents a recommitment to Peace Community Center’s original purpose: extending peace in the Hilltop community. From its founding over 30 years ago by Peace Lutheran Church, the Center was envisioned as a place that would address root causes of instability and support the holistic well-being of Hilltop families. While the Center’s work evolved over time—most notably through decades of impactful academic and youth programming—this plan intentionally reconnects the organization to its earliest vision of community development grounded in relationship, dignity, and justice.

Central to this recommitment is the renewed and clarified partnership with Peace Lutheran Church. The Church did not simply support the Center; it birthed it, shared space and mission, and sustained it through prayer, volunteerism, and generosity. Community engagement affirmed that this relationship is foundational, not optional. Moving forward, Peace Community Center and Peace Lutheran Church will intentionally co-create clear roles, shared expectations, and collaborative pathways that strengthen both organizations and their collective impact in the Hilltop neighborhood.

Informed by community wisdom and changing neighborhood realities, Peace Community Center has adopted a renewed mission that reflects both continuity and change. The new mission emphasizes faith-rooted, community-led work with Hilltop youth and families, with a particular focus on pathways to stability, opportunity, and housing security.

This mission signals an intentional program pivot. While education and youth development remain deeply valued, the plan recognizes that young people do not thrive in isolation from their family and housing context. Gentrification, displacement, and housing insecurity have reshaped the Hilltop community, and the Center is called to respond holistically. Rather than pre-determining specific programs, this plan prioritizes relationship-building, partnership, and co-design—allowing programs to emerge from ongoing listening and collaboration with those the Center seeks to serve.

The plan is organized around three interrelated strategic priority areas that together create a strong foundation for sustainable impact:

1. Strengthen and Develop Hilltop Partnerships
   Peace Community Center will deepen its foundational partnership with Peace Lutheran Church while cultivating relationships with Hilltop residents, community organizations, schools, housing partners, and faith communities. These partnerships will form the relational infrastructure for future programs and ensure accountability to the community.

2. Develop Programs and Services Aligned with Mission and Community Voice
   Programs will be developed collaboratively with community members and partners, grounded in the Center’s mission, vision, and values. This includes discerning potential partnerships with existing Peace Lutheran Church initiatives, identifying complementary efforts with other organizations, and creating a multi-year program development plan focused on depth, relevance, and sustainability.

3. Build Organizational Capacity to Further the Mission
   Sustainable impact requires a strong internal foundation. This priority focuses on leadership, governance, culture, and fundraising—ensuring the organization has the capacity, clarity, and resources to live out its mission with integrity.

A central early action within this plan is the hiring of a new lead staff member. This individual will play a critical role in engaging the Hilltop community, cultivating partnerships, facilitating program discernment, and working closely with the Board to guide Peace Community Center into its next chapter. Rather than arriving with predetermined solutions, this leader will be tasked with listening deeply, building trust, and helping translate community wisdom into mission-aligned strategy and action.

Together, these commitments position Peace Community Center to move forward with humility, clarity, and hope—honoring its past while courageously stepping into the future. Grounded in faith, rooted in the Hilltop, and guided by community voice, the Center is poised to once again extend peace in meaningful and lasting ways.