Community Counselling and Resource Centre is proud to announce our 50th anniversary and to celebrate 50 Years of Caring. Since we first opened our doors for service on July 3rd 1956, tens of thousands of people throughout Peterborough City and County have had their lives improved by our services and thousands of people have been involved as volunteers and staff members, with the overall result a stronger and healthier community.

Do you remember us in 1956?  We were established as the Catholic Family Services Bureau, at the request of Reverend W. I. Webster, Bishop of Peterborough and our founding President was Mr. D. J. Fitzgerald. This part of our organization changed its name to Family Counselling Service in 1963. Our purpose as we were formed was to promote, maintain and strengthen sound family life though educational lectures, courses and counselling. All programs were available to families of all denominations and were offered regardless of the economic status of our clients. This continues to be a key part of CCRC today.

The roots of the other founding agency of CCRC began with a group of committed volunteers meeting around the late Helen Whiteside’s dining table, which led to the 1974 founding of the Peterborough and District Information Centre and Volunteer Bureau. In 1992, this name was changed to Volunteers and Information Peterborough (VIP). Services have included information and referral, consumer help, the housing resource centre, community service orders and friendly visiting. Many know us for the community services handbook, also known as the “blue book” and several mascots adopted over the years: Ivan Answer, that had all the answers, and Occupi the Octopus, that represented the many hands of volunteering.

In 1998, Family Counselling Services and Volunteers and Information Peterborough were amalgamated, and we adopted our new name, Community Counselling and Resource Centre (CCRC) in 2001. CCRC is an incorporated, charitable, non-profit, community-based agency, accredited by Family Services Canada and Ontario Association of Credit Counselling Services. Our services include Community Counselling, Credit Counselling, Community Service Orders and the Housing Resource Centre.

We are grateful to the thousands of individuals, businesses, organizations, funders, government bodies and others who have so generously shared their time, expertise and resources for 50 Years of Caring!