Our Mission
Since 1968, Project Concern has stood as a pillar of support in Cudahy and St. Francis. Our mission is simple yet powerful:
To compassionately provide a path to self-sufficiency by providing basic needs such as food, clothing and referrals to additional community resources.
A Legacy of Local Love
Project Concern’s roots run deep. Formed by local clergy, nurses and neighbors, the organization has always reflected the values of its community: service, respect and human kindness. We do more than meet today’s needs. We advocate for tomorrow’s changes. Project Concern is part of a regional movement to promote socially responsible, anti-hunger advocacy that addresses root causes and creates long-term solutions to food insecurity. We now offer:
Food Distribution
We provide accessible and nutritious food to our local community through our in-person and home delivery food distribution program. From distributing food stamps in the 1970s to launching a My-Choice Food Pantry in 2018, we’ve adapted to meet the growing needs of our neighbors.
Infant & Personal Care Items
For many families, personal hygiene necessities like diapers, wipes, toothpaste, shampoo, body wash and household cleaning products are not in the budget. We provide these items monthly to our families in need.
Holiday Meals & School Supplies
Each year, we provide Easter & Thanksgiving meal boxes with a ham or turkey to over 100 families. At Christmastime, our holiday gift program for children blesses over 200 families. Each summer, we hand out over 300 backpacks and school supplies for children and families.
Humble Beginnings
What began in a church basement has grown into a vital community organization, serving families with dignity, lifting up families with love and connecting seniors to food and clothing.
We regularly support over 1,500 local households throughout the year. While we welcome hundreds of new families annually, this growth also puts significant pressure on our resources and capacity. With your help, we’re taking the next step – building a Community Help Center designed to meet today’s needs and tomorrow’s opportunities.
We operate through the lens of Trauma-Informed Care, recognizing how past and present adversity affects our neighbors’ lives and working to create safe, respectful and empowering spaces for healing and hope.
The Need for a
New Home
Our programs and impact have outgrown our space. Currently housed in the lower level of a church, the physical limitations of our facility are real:
No elevator or accessible entrance
No central HVAC
Limited natural light
Inadequate storage, workspace and loading areas
Still, over one million pounds of goods move through our space each year.
Rising Demand, Growing Responsibility
Every month, hundreds of families walk through our doors in search of stability. Today, we serve over 500 families monthly, a number that continues to rise.
This increasing demand is not a coincidence. It’s a reflection of broader economic pressures:
The rising cost of groceries has outpaced wage growth, making it harder for families to afford healthy meals. Affordable housing shortages have pushed more families into economic instability.
Out-of-pocket healthcare costs and prescription prices continue to climb, straining already tight household budgets. Inflation has made basic needs, from diapers to detergent, more expensive than ever before.
When families are forced to make impossible choices between rent and food, or medicine and meals, they turn to Project Concern. And we welcome them all.
We are honored to be a dependable, compassionate resource in a time of uncertainty. Our growing numbers reflect not just need, but trust.
Everyone has a sotry –
Every individual who walks through our doors carries a unique, complex story—
—one often marked by unexpected job loss, a sudden health crisis, or the relentless pressure of rising costs. These stories are a reminder that needing help with food isn’t a failure; it’s a common human experience driven by difficult circumstances. By supporting the Hunger Into Hope Transformation campaign, you are investing in a space where every person is met with dignity, not judgment, and where their personal story can take a hopeful turn toward a more secure future.
Learn More About Who We Are And What We Do
Click the button below to see how we tackle hunger and poverty, one family at a time.