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Our Story
Nahla Kayali experienced great difficulties after
her divorce. She went to different Mosques seeking assistance
and direction for her life and for her three children. She was
not able to obtain advice, advocacy or supportive services
such as counseling, health information, free immunization, or
employment.
Nahla Kayali is known for her personality.
She did not take no for an answer. That was when her vision
began with the idea of starting an agency to help her
community. She thought of other women in her community and
wondered if they were facing the same difficulties receiving
assistance. After making several phone calls to get
information about free immunization for her 8 year old
daughter, she went for the first time in her life to a free
community clinic in Huntington Beach. While she was waiting
for her turn she found a flyer advertising free or low cost
health, dental and vision coverage for children, provided by
the state. She immediately enrolled her daughter in the
Healthy Families program. She realized that this program could
be beneficial to many members of her community.
Nahla
made several phone calls to the Department of Health and Human
Services to see if she could contract with them to start
helping her community. They directed her to the Healthy
Families Task Force Committee in Orange County. She was
invited to the next day's meeting. At the meeting, she was
introduced to Mrs. Judy Mader, the Program Director of Healthy
Families outreach and enrollment for Community Development
Council (CDC). CDC is now the Community Action Partnership of
Orange County.
Judy Mader listened to Nahla Kayali and
was touched by her words. She was especially touched when she
said that her community, the Arab and Muslim American
community, was underserved. Judy asked Nahla if she belonged
to a non-profit that could join in the collaboration of
funding. Nahla was empty handed except for her aspirations and
vision of providing assistance to her community. Judy Mader
promised her $2,000 to start but she needed to have a
non-profit with a 501?3 status.
Determined to pursue
her vision, Nahla checked out the book, "How to Start a
Non-Profit Organization in the State of California", from the
public library. She started to take the steps necessary to
start her non-profit organization. Due to the lack of funding,
Nahla did not hire an attorney or CPA to help her start the
agency. The agency started with three directors, her best
friends Nemati Abdullah, Hassan Al-Khatib and herself. She
named the agency Care R Us and received her 501?3 status after
three months. This was the start of her journey.
Nahla
started with an office rental space for $150 a month, one
phone line and a broken desk that she found thrown out in the
parking lot. Nahla was extremely devoted to her dream and
volunteered her time to the establishment of the agency. She
immediately started the outreach program and enrolled 600
children in the Healthy Families Program within the first six
months. Four months later, Nahla's best friend Maria Khani
joined in her vision and started volunteering her time by
giving direct services to clients in the office. Maria Khani
is still an active member and founded the family crisis
program. On an average week, Maria spends over 10 hours
volunteering in the office to help the community.
At
the time Nahla was seeing clients two days a week and
attending meetings learning the system during the remaining
three days. Once she gained the community's trust, they
started to ask her about other services. She found volunteers
to help her write grants. She managed to get a grant from the
California Department of Health Services (CDHS) for outreach,
enrollment and retention, for the Healthy Family and Medical
programs. The grant was in the amount of $130,000 and was for
a period of 2 years. The agency received another grant from
The Children & Family Commission of Orange County (Prop
10), allowing the staff to make home visits to 200 low-income
Middle Eastern families with children from newborn to 5 years
old. The staff asked these families about the specific
services they needed and what they thought would be most
helpful to them. Based on the surveyed responses, ACCESS
started adding programs to better serve the
community.
In 2004, the agency changed its' name to
ACCESS California Services (ACS) to better define its' role as
an advocate in assisting immigrant families, women, and
children in accessing services available to them, and to help
them make the transitions to their new lives in America. The
agency's vision is for "Arab American and Muslim American
families in California, to live secure, fulfilling lives as
caring, contributing citizens; and for these immigrants to
make a successful transition to life in America. By
strengthening our foundation, our families, our youths, and
our overall presence as citizens ? we see our communities
enriching the fabric of America with diversity and fully
embracing the opportunities and responsibilities open to all."
ACS has provided quality services in the Arab and Muslim
American Communities in Southern California for over nine
years. The Agency relies heavily on feedback and observations
of our client base to determine what programs will best serve
Arab and Muslim Americans. Many of our current ACS staff and
volunteers were initial clients of the organization, and
therefore have firsthand experience with the needs of these
Communities. While once an immigrant herself, Ms. Kayali, CEO
and Executive Director of ACS, has been a resident of Southern
California for over 32 years. She is well-known and respected
for her role as an advocate for Arab Americans and Muslims in
Southern California.
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