After nearly 30 years, the Resource Center in Chicago's South Side is still finding new ways to turn unwanted materials into useful resources and provide jobs for inner-city residents in the process. The non-profit environmental organization began by collecting and recycling cardboard and expanded into compositing, curbside collection of recyclables and wood reclamation. The center opened a warehouse to distribute unwanted materials to teachers and the public that are donated by local industries.

The Center's founder, Ken Dunn, started collecting cardboard from local stores in 1968 after he noticed that owners were burning it behind their stores. Dunn sold it to a local paper mill where it was recycled and he used the revenues to pay unemployed residents to collect bottles and cans. The Center got involved in composting by helping inner city residents clean up vacant lots and turn them into community gardens. The Center entered a contract with the Chicago's Parks Departmen in 1985 to take their leaves, grass clipping and brush and began composting these materials with manure.

The Center's newest venture is its Creative Use Warehouse which accepts donations of slightly damaged or unwanted materials from local industries and sells them to the public for a minimal price. The 10,000 square foot warehouse was opened in November, 1995 with the intent of getting these materials into Chicago's inner city schools.

The Center has operated a pallet reclamation business on a lot adjancent to the warehouse for ten years. Today, the Center has 45 employees, many of whom have worked there for years. The center had revenues of $2 million.