A Brief History of PACER

• PACER was founded in 1978 by Dirck Brown, with the help of his wife, Molly.
   
• Dirck was an educator, and also an adoptee.  He served as an Army officer in the Korean War, got his doctorate in education from Columbia, acted as Dean of Students at several major universities, and worked for the National Education Association in Washington, D.C. After searching for and finding his birthmother in 1976, he became a Marriage, Family and Child counselor. Shortly after moving from Maryland to Palo Alto, he started an adoption support group, which met in his home during the late 1970’s. Not long after that, PACER was born.
   
• “We knew we had found the perfect way to help others who needed acceptance and support,” Dirck wrote in PACER's 25th Anniversary newsletter, published just two months before his death in December of 2005. He also worked with Tony and Emma Vilardi (of International Soundex Reunion Registry) to help found the American Adoption Congress (AAC), and later served on its board and as its president.
   
• PACER began offering support groups all over the Bay Area, organized workshops on transracial adoption, and made presentations at Stanford University Hospital. Dr. Joe Davis, a renowned pediatrician who understood the life-long issues of adoption even though he had no personal connection, was instrumental in arranging for PACER panels, representing all sides of the triad, to speak during Grand Rounds at Stanford and other Bay Area hospitals. Dr. Joe was a fierce advocate for adoptees’ right to know and a supporter of PACER’s work until his death in Spring 2003.
   
• Donna Oman, a birthmother, was PACER’s first president. She was followed by Dr. Joe, Gene Grossman, Martin Brandfon, Diane Michelsen, Jim Mehlfeld, Catherine Sharp, Jane Calbreath, Bob Crowe, and our latest president: Malcolm Pearson.
   
• Some key events in PACER’s history:
   
  • 1981:  PACER received funding for an 18-workshop series for professionals on adoption.
     
  • 1983:  We began offering search workshops, and did so annually until a few years ago.
     
  • 1996:  PACER participated in Reg Day for the first time, with sites in seven cities.
     
  • 1990s:  PACER triad members began telling their adoption stories in Catholic Charities meetings for prospective adoptive parents.
     
  • 1998:  We became a CEU provider (continuing education credits, for therapists and other human services professionals).
     
  • 1998:  We hosted the AAC’s Southwest Regional Conference, "The Ups and Downs of Adoption," in San Francisco.
     
  • 1999:  We sponsored a Search Workshop and an Interfaith Healing Service, both in San Francisco.
     
  • 2001-2002: We supported California’s Open Records bill.
     
  • 2006:  We cohosted a one-day conference entitled "The Changing Picture of Adoption" with the AAC.
     
  • 2007:  We held a screening party for the director of "I, The Aforementioned Infant," an adoption documentary.

PACER Continues To:

• Sponsor workshops on topics such as Attachment Disorder and Birthmother Healing.
   
• Hold special events, including Adoption Unity Gatherings, Mother’s Day picnics, and our annual Holiday Party.
   
• Expand our peer support groups, which are still the heart of our organization.
  • Right now, there are 10 support groups — in the East Bay, Contra Costa County, Marin County, Sonoma County, San Mateo, Sacramento, and San Francisco.
     
• Jane Calbreath led the way to establishing PACER’s current ground rules for its support groups, modeled after 12-step program guidelines, to ensure a safe, non-judgmental, confidential environment for everyone who attends. Although we’ve considered it several times, PACER does not charge people to come to meetings, nor require attendees to be members.
   
• Like many non-profit organizations that are all-volunteer and supported financially solely through memberships and donations, PACER has had its ups and downs. We’ve had to rebuild a number of times, but we’ve stayed alive for 25 years, thanks to people like you, who give your time, energy, and financial support.