
We have grown in leaps and bounds since our founding in 1974. PRC was originally organized by the Junior League of New Orleans as a community group consisting of individuals involved in preservation and urban planning, with the purpose of providing information and ongoing community education about historic preservation. In 1988, PRC added two bricks-and-mortar programs designed to increase our impact on promoting historic preservation: Operation Comeback, to restore and resell vacant and blighted properties which were proliferating due to population decline, and Christmas in October, to organize volunteer teams to assist elderly low-income and disabled homeowners with repairs on their homes. In 2002, Christmas in October was renamed Rebuilding Together New Orleans and continued to be part of the national effort that assists qualified homeowners with quality-of-life home repairs. Both of these programs expanded PRC from advocacy to direct action and provided a concrete, tangible avenue for promoting preservation. The basis of PRC’s strategy was, and continues to be, to leverage these efforts through education, outreach and advocacy in order to attract essential private sector investment and to increase homeownership in New Orleans neighborhoods. PRC continues to strengthen and revitalize New Orleans in a way that is forward-looking and sustainable, yet sensitive to the city's past and its heritage.