CRC Throughout the years

1925: Community Resources Council is formed as the Topeka Council of Social Agencies (TCSA), emerging from the Community Chest to focus on community planning, social services, and public welfare.

• 1930s: CRC assumes responsibility for the Social Service Index, now known as the Community Progress Report.

• 1930s: Partners with the University of Kansas to conduct studies on housing, care of the transient, and services for individuals who are blind.

• 1930s: Advocates for social legislation supporting maternity care, children with disabilities, and penal institutions.

• 1941: CRC reorganizes into a formal planning organization with staff, a permanent location, and standing committees.

• 1943: Establishes the first Christmas Bureau, serving hundreds of families despite limited resources.

• 1945: Conducts the Limited Survey of Facilities and Available Services of Health and Welfare.

• 1945: Recommends the merger of the Shawnee County Guidance Center and Family Services of Topeka.

• 1945: Establishes Topeka Youth Centers, Inc.

• 1949: Organization becomes known as the Topeka Welfare Planning Council.

• 1950: CRC leadership supports the formation of the Shawnee County Guidance Center.

• 1954: Begins offering free maternal health classes in partnership with city and county agencies.

• 1958: The Charity Tax is terminated, prompting the formation of the United Fund (later United Way of Greater Topeka).

• 1958: Facilitates the When People Move seminar to address impacts of urban renewal.

• 1958: Family Service and Guidance Center opens following CRC-led studies and planning.

• 1959: Establishes the Romana Hood Memorial Fund and award.

• 1959: Topeka Keyway Project displaces thousands; Pine Ridge Manor is later built.

• 1961: CRC collaborates with the Topeka Housing Authority in planning for Pine Ridge Manor.

• 1962: Facilitates community discussions on urban renewal and minority housing.

• 1962: Assumes responsibility for the Volunteer Bureau.

• 1963: Leads the Mental Health Comprehensive Community Survey.

• 1963: Plays a key role in forming the Topeka Human Relations Commission.

• 1964: Spearheads Kansas’s first Community Action Program.

• 1965: Hires the first executive director for Community Action.

• 1965: Pine Ridge Manor opens.

• 1967: Collaborates on comprehensive health planning under the Public Health Services Act.

• 1969: Name changes to Community Resources Council of Shawnee County.

• 1970s: Publishes the first Service Directory of Area Agencies.

• 1972: Research leads to the creation of Mobile Meals of Topeka, now Meals on Wheels.

• 1975: United Fund merges with the Community Chest, becoming United Way of Greater Topeka.

• 1978: Collaborates to form the Topeka & Shawnee County Emergency Aid Council.

• 1981: Forecasts and publicly reports major human service funding shortfalls.

• 1986: Launches Project Concern (later Project Topeka), a community-wide food and utility drive.

• 1988: Begins publishing the Community Profile, now the Community Progress Report.

• 1990: Launches Older Citizens Information, distributed to thousands of senior households.

• 1990s: Continues community data, planning, and collaboration efforts.

• 2001: Initiates the Topeka Ethnic Heritage Project.

• 2008: Helps form Heartland Healthy Neighborhoods and provides fiduciary management.

• 2009: Organization shortens name to Community Resources Council (CRC).

Coming Soon.

90 Years of CRC serving our community!

More Coming Soon!

• 2020s: Expands housing advocacy through CRC SAFE Homes, serving veterans, individuals with disabilities, and low- to moderate-income families.

• 2020s: Continues publishing trusted community data and strengthening partnerships.

• 2025: CRC celebrates 100 years as a catalyst for collaboration, advocacy, research, and education.