For 70 years, KACS has delivered on a mission of critical importance in Southern Chester County. 
At KACS, we work to meet the most fundamental needs of those we serve with dignity, compassion, and equity. Together, we build hope and effect solutions to end poverty.
With the help of loyal donors and dedicated volunteers, we’ve touched thousands of lives from our small food cupboard in a converted auto-body shop and small offices in the modified neighboring residence. Now we have the chance to do more with a new and larger, purposefully built facility.
Join us in building a new, permanent home for KACS that will be an anchor institution for all organizations working in Southern Chester County, providing a place for connection through collaboration to eradicate hunger and homelessness in our communities.
We are launching a $15 million campaign to fund our new facility and position KACS to expand our life-changing impact across our community.

Our Work Today

Kennett Area Community Service began as a food cupboard. We continue to serve our community more broadly with a focus on the root causes of poverty through these programs:

Food Cupboard: The largest service of its kind in Southern Chester County, we distribute an average of 68,000 pounds of healthy and nutritious food every month. Our services provide food access to many community members including the working poor, and seniors on fixed incomes. Participants shop at our food cupboard, and we deliver to homes and low-income communities.

Emergency Assistance and Housing Stability: Our case workers provide emergency assistance and crisis services related to housing stability. We help families afford to stay in safe housing when possible and find new homes when necessary. Housing is essential to preventing or breaking the cycle of poverty.

New Housing Initiative: KACS is working to provide affordable rental properties for low-income renters. This program will make a lasting impact on our community’s affordable housing landscape and provide a stream of rental income to sustain KACS.

Bridges Out of Poverty Workshops: Our Getting Ahead and Staying Ahead programs, part of the national Bridges Out of Poverty model, help individuals in poverty build long-term resources for a more prosperous life. We also offer Bridges trainings to better equip our community to understand and address the root causes of poverty.

Our Future Impact

An Ideal Future Location

  • Situated on 5.6 acres of donated land.
  • Located one mile from our current property, easily accessible by public transportation, and steps from community partners that provide complementary services.
  • Conference rooms for existing program expansion and Getting Ahead workshops.
  • Space for enhanced collaboration with community partners, including long-term tenant spaces that will generate rent revenue for KACS and free meeting space for other partners to provide vital services to our participants.
  • Respite services for the community, including shower and laundry facilities for unstably housed participants.
  • A Food Distribution Center for Southern Chester County.
  • This 24,000-square-foot structure will greatly increase our organizational efficiency and our capacity to serve our community.

Our Appeal to You
KACS improves life for everyone in Southern Chester County by ensuring that homelessness and poverty have no place here. This new building will allow us to continue to significantly grow our services and enhance our impact.

Join in this transformative effort that will strengthen our community where everyone is responsible for its success. Please consider how your commitment can make this campaign successful. Your support will make an important, lasting difference.

Our Current Space: KACS’s two small buildings have experienced a fire and multiple floods, requiring extensive restoration. Both buildings are undersized, inefficiently configured to support our work, and lack essentials such as dedicated parking, sufficient food cupboard space for rising need, an indoor waiting room for families at our Food Cupboard, and a classroom for Bridges Out of Poverty workshops.

At KACS, we envision a community without poverty where everyone can live well. This campaign and the building it will fund are major steps toward that vision.

In a single year, KACS serves about 7% of our community. Our participants range in age from children to the elderly. We serve the working poor, many of whom have essential jobs in industries important to our local economy like hospitality, agriculture, landscaping, and retail, and the poorest of the poor. We provide a safety net to ensure that no one in Southern Chester County needs to go without food or shelter.

A New Home for KACS

Main Entrance

Welcoming entrance for all who visit KACS

Food Distribution Warehouse

Store, sort, and prepare food for distribution at KACS

Social Services

Case management for homelessness and crisis services

Homeless Respite Services

Showers and Laundry for those experiencing homelessness

Administration

Administration and staff offices

Community Partner Space

Tenant and Community Partner office spaces

Conference Rooms

For KACS, partner agencies and collaborating groups

Loading Docks

Three loading docks – two truck and one car 

Food Cupboard

Store style facility for participants to choose the healthy food they need

Donation Drop-off

Dedicated drop-off area for community donations

Pick-up Waiting Area

Participants can shelter from the weather while waiting for their ride

Together We Build Hope • KACS Capital Campaign

KACS’s new building project has already begun and is expected to cost $15 million. We have commitments of $5 million dollars in matching funds from the Federal Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP), $500,000 from Chester County, and the $750,000 value of the donated land. We are now seeking to raise $10 million from individuals, foundations, government entities, and corporations in support of this project over the next three years. This support will create a much-needed permanent home for KACS and increase our organizational capacity to meet community needs for years to come.

Project Budget: $15 million

Join us as we make our community a better place for everyone to live.

Your vital support will represent a fundamental investment in the health and stability of Southern Chester County, helping to prevent hunger and homelessness in the short term and giving our most vulnerable neighbors a path forward out of poverty.

Campaign gifts can include gifts of cash paid in full now as well as pledges paid over multiple years and gifts of non-cash assets.

Contact us today to discuss the form your campaign support will take and the difference it can make for KACS and our community.

70 Years of Strengthening our Community

KACS History

Thank you for your interest in “Together We Build Hope”, Kennett Area Community Service’s campaign to build our new, permanent home.

We’re glad you’re here and would like to share more information with you about the work KACS does to strengthen our community. Please complete the form below and we will contact you shortly: