Chico Peace and Justice Center

The Chico Peace & Justice Center is a community-based nonprofit promoting peace and social justice through the power of nonviolence.

Our core aim: Building justice through peace and peace through justice.

The Center works for social change through education, community building, and direct action and is dedicated to ending violent conflict among nations and individuals.

The Chico Peace & Justice Center operates under the umbrella of the Chico Peace Endeavor [a non-profit 501(c)(3)], which has been working for nonviolent change since 1960. During the tense Cold War years of the early 1960s, the U.S. military began construction of Titan missile silos and bunkers to house nuclear warheads on Keefer Road in northeast Chico. Alarmed by this development, Chico resident Wilhelmina Taggart made weekly visits to the base to pray. Florence McLane and Helen Kinnee joined in Willa’s efforts, and eventually, the missiles were removed. Together, these three women established the Chico Peace Endeavor and began holding weekly peace vigils in downtown Chico. Over sixty-five years later, the Vigil still takes place at the corner of 3rd and Main, every Saturday from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

The guiding principle for the Center’s work is a belief in the importance and power of nonviolence.