Before 2002 they were two organisations providing education and community activities in Carlton:

• - The "Carlton Contact Neighbourhood Centre" was established in 1974 and was initially funded by the City of Melbourne; it operated from a number of sites before it settled into 20 Princes Street in 1982.
• - The "Carlton Adult Reading and Writing program" was set up in 1985, as a one-to-one literacy tutoring program for adults, and in 1987, moved to the same premises.

The two organisations happily co-existed until March 2002 when they merged to form the Carlton Neighbourhood Learning Centre, Inc. Since 2002 our organisation has more than doubled its programs and turnover.