Mission
CIMS was founded to address the urgent and unmet needs of Sub-Saharan African migrant and refugee families in greater Philadelphia, particularly Congolese households facing food insecurity, trauma, language barriers, and economic hardship. CIMS was created in direct response to what community members themselves identified as the most immediate barriers to successful resettlement: insufficient pathways to education and stability, lack of culturally appropriate food, and limited access to behavioral health support. CIMS's long-term vision is to build a community-centered model of care where food access serves as an entry point to whole-family stabilization: connecting nutrition with behavioral health, education pathways, and economic self-sufficiency. Our goal is not simply to reduce hunger, but to help refugee families rebuild their lives with dignity, resilience, and opportunity.