2026-04-15T20:51:43-07:00 2025-12-31 990 2025-01-01 920564333 CENTER FOR INTEGRATION AND MIGRANT SUPPORT CENT 2157586780 6104 Market Street 1st Floor Philadelphia PA 19139 Kennedy Chesoli Executive Director 2157586780 2026-04-15 2025 2025-03-06 01:10:19Z X Kennedy Chesoli 244 Ravenscliff Road Wayne PA 19087 179541 0 X www.thecims.org X 2022 PA The Center for Integration and Migrant Support is a grassroots migrant-led 501(c)(3) organization serving Sub-Saharan African migrant and refugee families in the Greater Philadelphia region. Founded during the COVID-19 pandemic, CIMS emerged to address critical gaps in culturally and linguistically appropriate services for Swahili- and French-speaking refugee families, particularly those from Africa's Great Lakes Region. CIMS operates a Community Resource and Learning Center (CRLC) in West Philadelphia, serving as a one-stop hub for integrated, whole-family support. Through programs in food access, education, behavioral health, and family navigation, CIMS helps families move from crisis to stability and toward long-term integration and economic mobility. 6 6 0 3 0 0 84075 179541 0 0 0 0 0 0 84075 179541 0 0 0 0 0 11439 0 0 5200 71322 116627 71322 128066 12753 51475 12753 64308 0 0 12753 64308 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. 0 0 19010 19010 0 In 2025, CIMS partnered with workforce organizations to help families secure employment while also launching community-based economic initiatives in tailoring and hairdressing, building on skills already present within the community. These efforts restored income during periods of hardship and created pathways toward self-sufficiency. By recognizing informal experience as valuable expertise, CIMS supports dignified work opportunities rooted in cultural strengths. Our workforce approach goes beyond job placement. We provide ongoing navigation, encouragement, and connection to resources that help families sustain employment and move toward financial independence. Housing instability remains one of the most urgent challenges facing newly arrived migrant and refugee families. In 2025, CIMS provided eviction prevention, rental assistance, and housing navigation to families at risk of displacement, stabilizing multiple households and supporting 39 individuals. Our team worked directly with landlords, service providers, and community partners to prevent evictions, secure emergency assistance, and identify safer housing options. Beyond housing, CIMS responded to crises affecting entire families-including medical emergencies, income loss, and caregiver stress-offering hands-on case management and culturally responsive advocacy. By addressing immediate needs while connecting families to longer-term resources, CIMS helped restore stability during moments of vulnerability and uncertainty. What distinguishes CIMS is our whole-family approach. We recognize that housing, health, employment, and emotional wellbeing are deeply interconnected. 27808 27808 0 In 2025, CIMS distributed approximately 600 food boxes weekly, reaching an average of 72 individuals each week. This support met immediate nutritional needs while also serving as a vital point of entry into broader services. For many families, food distribution is their first connection to CIMS. From there, they access housing support, healthcare navigation, education services, and workforce assistance. CIMS intentionally uses food access as a gateway, not just to address hunger, but to build trust and connect families to integrated care. This model transforms short-term relief into long-term opportunity. 10660 10660 0 CIMS bridges critical gaps between immigrant families and healthcare systems that often feel inaccessible due to language barriers, cultural unfamiliarity, stigma, and complex administrative processes. In 2025, our staff and volunteers accompanied clients to medical and wellness visits, coordinated care for individuals with complex health needs, and provided home care support for medically vulnerable community members. Behavioral health services addressed trauma, isolation, and stress related to displacement and resettlement through counseling referrals and ongoing navigation, helping adults stabilize both emotionally and practically. In total, 16 healthcare visits were facilitated. Through this work, CIMS identified significant limitations in the current care landscape. Many providers lack cultural fluency, interpretation support is inconsistent, and stigma surrounding mental health continues to prevent families from fully engaging in services. As a result, care is often fragmented, episodic, and disconnected from the daily realities of housing insecurity, food access, and family stress. In response, CIMS is preparing to launch an in-house Behavioral & Mental Health Initiative (BMHI) in 2026. This initiative will adopt a whole-family approach, integrate Community Health Workers (CHWs), and leverage existing Education Pathways and food programs to create coordinated, culturally grounded care. By embedding behavioral health within trusted community services, CIMS aims to move beyond referrals toward continuity by supporting healing, resilience, and long-term wellbeing. Our proposed model integrates clinical care with community healing, recognizing that recovery is shaped not only by therapy, but by stability, dignity, and trusted relationships. By centering dignity, language access, and cultural relevance, BMHI strengthens continuity of care and transforms fragmented services into integrated, community-based support. 0 0 0 57478 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 PA X X Kennedy Chesoli 2157586780 244 Ravensliff Road Wayne PA 19087 Kennedy Chesoli Executive Director 40 40 X 8400 0 8400 8400 0 8400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 179541 33018 179541 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 179541 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8400 0 8400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3039 0 3039 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 116627 57478 53949 5200 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 128066 57478 65388 5200 8677 34987 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4076 29321 12753 64308 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 12753 20836 0 43472 12753 64308 12753 64308 51475 0 0 0 80 0 X 0 0 0 X 0 0 7600 84075 179541 271216 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7600 84075 179541 271216 0 271216 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 271216 0 X COMPUTER AND ACCESSORIES 14204 FURNITURE AND FITTING 10590 OTHERS 4527 29321 0 0 1 0 Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 11b The Executive Director provided financial statements and other management reports, including draft IRS returns, to all Board Members for review and approval. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 12c All Board Members and Officers of the organization provide an annual attestation that they do have a Conflict of Interest. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 15 Yes, CIMS follows a compliant process for determining compensation. Independent Board members review and approve compensation, using comparability data from similar organizations to ensure reasonableness. All deliberations and decisions are documented in meeting minutes, providing clear substantiation and ensuring transparency and accountability in line with IRS guidelines. This said, the ED is not yet compensated at market rate due to inadequate resources. Form 990, Part VI, Section C, Line 19 The CIMS' governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements are available to the public upon request.