Mama's Kitchen was founded in 1990 by volunteers from the AIDS Assistance Fund, who ran a small grocery store for low-income patients with AIDS. They discovered that impoverished people with AIDS were suffering from hunger and malnutrition, and were dying prematurely due to lack of proper food and nutrition. We provide 100% of the daily nutrition recommended for people with AIDS by the American Dietetic Association, and all of our services are free.

In 2006 we began our Critical Illness Nutrition Program to provide hot meals for people with illnesses such as cancer, kidney failure, heart disease, and post traumatic stress disorder.