Nationalities Service Center.

The Nationalities Service Center is a non-profit agency that provides information and guidance to immigrants, refugees and non-english speaking people who have come to reside in the United States.

Services provided by the Nationalities Service Center include counseling to individuals and families in areas of health care, housing, education, employment, immigration and naturalization matters and interpreter services. The Center also promotes, through its sponsorship of numerous folk fairs and food festivals, the conservation of cultural values of various ethnic groups for the enrichment of American life.

The Nationalities Services Center was originally established in 1921 as the International Institute, which was a branch of the Philadelphia YWCA. It evolved from a national movement started in 1911 to aid new immigrants in America. In 1934, the agency joined the American Federation of International Institutes. In 1937, the Center was incorporated as an independent organization. The national organization changed its name to the American Council for Nationalities Service in the late 1950s. Subsequently, the Philadelphia chapter changed its name to the Nationalities Service Center in 1963.