As I look back over Intercultural Family Services, Inc.'s exceptional achievements during the last 23 years, I am reminded of my former high school teacher's words: 
"If you close your eyes to the past, you will always be blind to the future." What began as a small $50,000 a year refugee center in 1979, has now grown into a $6 million a year multi-purpose, multicultural social services agency.

This remarkable expansion could not have been accomplished without the unswerving dedication of a talented, diverse staff, committed board members, and financial support from both the private and public sectors.

IFSI's foundation is rooted in the experiences of thousands of immigrants and refugees who came to Philadelphia to create a new home and found themselves facing many challenges—language barriers and religious and cultural differences. In order to serve them, Intercultural Family Services, Inc., known then as the Philadelphia Refugee Service Center, vowed to respect different beliefs, customs and values, to promote similarities among people and to celebrate the cultures and customs of all people.

We continue to embrace that diversity. Today we are the preeminent multicultural social services agency, and our programs and services have escalated. In 2001, more than 10,000 clients received IFSI direct services and over 20,000 benefited from our outreach and education programs. 

We've improved some of our programs and have added six new projects within the last three years. We're especially proud of the Behavioral Health Services clinic, which since it opened two and one-half years ago, has helped many of our clients by providing quality mental health services.

Our mission statement and core values serve as our credo, as we forge ahead in our planning. "Diversity in Action" continues to be the cornerstone of the innovative and culturally competent approaches we utilize to address the urgent and evolving needs of the communities we serve. We look forward to improving the quality of life for the many individuals and families who seek our help.

Evelyn Marcha-Hidalgo
CEO/Executive Director