Our Story 

CAS Organization is a Black-led, woman-founded nonprofit based in Milton, Ontario. Established in 2021, CAS is committed to empowering African Canadian women—particularly those impacted by war, displacement, gender-based violence, and systemic injustice.

CAS (Canadian African Services for Women) was born from lived experience—a journey of surviving patriarchy, overcoming forced silence, rebuilding after conflict, and transforming trauma into purpose. We know the pain of losing everything—career, home, safety, identity—and the courage it takes to begin again in a country where your story isn’t always seen or understood.

That’s why CAS offers more than services. We offer community, connection, and culturally grounded support—a place where women are not just helped but honored. Whether navigating housing, finding meaningful work, launching a small business, or healing from trauma, our programs are built to affirm every woman’s worth, wisdom, and voice.

At CAS, we don’t just support women.
We walk with them—until they rise.

Our Mission

CAS empowers African Canadian women—especially immigrants and newcomers—to rise, rebuild, and reclaim their voices. Through education, entrepreneurship, cultural expression, and community connection, we nurture women’s potential and transform lived experience into leadership.

Our Vision

A world where African women rise as leaders, healers, and creators—fully seen, deeply supported, and truly unstoppable.

 

 Our Services

CAS Core Services for African-Canadian Women & Newcomer Families

  • Employment & Career Integration
    Support with job searching, resume building, interview preparation, credential recognition, and networking to help clients enter the Canadian workforce.

  • Education & Skills Development
    Guidance on continuing education, adult learning programs, upgrading qualifications, and 

  • Entrepreneurship & Small Business Support
    Business planning, licensing assistance, mentorship, marketing support, and strategies for operating home-based or mobile businesses. Help accessing startup funding and grants is also included.

  • Financial Literacy & Access to Resources
    Budgeting workshops, tax filing support, credit education, and navigation of government benefits and loan/grant opportunities.

  • Mental Health & Wellness Support
    Referrals to culturally sensitive, trauma-informed counseling; mental health education; and safe spaces for healing and community connection.

  • Housing & Safety Navigation
    Assistance in finding shelters and transitional housing, especially for women and youth fleeing violence, including safety planning and referrals.

  • Youth & Academic Support
    Assist families in navigating the elementary and high school systems in Canada, as well as post-secondary career paths.

  • Community Integration & Cultural Empowerment
    Programs that support cultural identity, build community connections, and provide guidance on adapting to Canadian norms while celebrating heritage.

 A Voice from the Founder: Dalia Altom

“CAS is not charity—it is justice. I founded this organization because I know what it feels like to be erased by systems, dismissed by institutions, and exiled by your own country. I survived war, exile, and personal loss—not to be silent, but to speak—and to build something no one can take away from us.”

 

Our Partners 

NOMAD COMMITTEE SERVICE

SUDANESE CANADIAN ASSOCIATION 

CANADIAN LEARNING ACADEMY

Meet Me

A simple woman who turned her story into a sanctuary.

Dalia Altom - Founder 
 Welcome to CAS—a space for African Canadian women to be seen, heard, and held.

I’ve worn many titles in my life: engineer, entrepreneur, mother, immigrant, and survivor.
But the one that feels most true? Builder of beginnings.

 

I was born in Sudan, and my journey took root in Saudi Arabia, where I spent my childhood in the stillness of closed doors and silenced dreams. My father worked in another city, my mother raised us alone, and I learned early how to navigate loneliness. We moved often—city to city, friend to friend, never long enough to belong.

By sixteen, I was back in Sudan, chasing education like oxygen. I juggled two university degrees while never quite finding a place to call my own. I married young. I chose love. And I walked through a life that taught me the difference between choosing someone and being chosen back. I fought for my freedom, for my daughter, and for my name. I stood alone in court to earn a divorce in a culture that punished women for speaking.

I raised my daughter as a single mother. I built a company from scratch. I turned zero into $250,000 in four years—not from luck, but from grit and grit only. I cared for my aging parents while healing from my own wounds. I was the one my entire family turned to when they fell apart, and I helped piece them back together while quietly falling apart myself.

Then war came.

I lost everything I had built—my business, my home, my savings, my mother and father—all swallowed by conflict and chaos. I came to Canada, not as a victim, but as a woman with a suitcase full of pain, purpose, and potential. I started over again. I studied English. I earned advanced diplomas in business marketing. I learned AI and new systems. I took 60 classes to advance my education and sharpen my social and professional skills. I pursued the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA). And I kept applying for jobs that never called back—not because I lacked value, but because the world lacked imagination.

So I dreamed bigger.

I created CAS because I knew there were thousands of women like me—brilliant, displaced, silenced, and overlooked. I built the space I once needed. A place where African Canadian women could be seen, supported, and celebrated. Where we don't have to shrink to survive—we can rise, rebuild, and redefine success on our own terms.

This is more than my story. It’s a blueprint.

And it’s just the beginning.