Our Story

Our family resource center was born in 1998 amidst the aftermath of Nahla Kayali’s divorce and its subsequent difficulties. Newly divorced with three children and in desperate need of help, Nahla went to different Mosques seeking culturally oriented assistance. Much to her dismay, none of the mosques offered supportive services such as counseling, health information, free immunization and employment.

It was these circumstances that led to Nahla’s vision to start an agency that could aid her and empower many other members of her community who faced even more extreme challenges. Nahla made several phone calls to the Department of Health and Human Services to see if she could collaborate with them in an effort to begin helping her community. They directed her to the Healthy Families Task Force Committee in Orange County. There, Nahla was introduced to Mrs. Judy Mader, the Program Director of Healthy Families outreach and enrollment for Community Development Council (CDC); now known as Community Action Partnership of Orange County.

Judy Mader listened and was touched as Nahla articulated the needs of the underserved Arab American and Muslim American communities. Seeing that the visionary woman was equipped with strong aspirations of providing assistance to her community, Judy Mader promised her $2,000 to start a non-profit with a 501 (c)(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. Initially, the agency started with three volunteer directors: Nahla Kayali and her best friends, Nemati Abdullah and Hassan Al-Khatib. They named the agency Care ‘R’ Us and received a 501 (c)(3) status within three months. This was the beginning of our journey.

Care ‘R’ Us started out of a small one room office with one phone line and a broken desk that was found thrown in the parking lot. At the time Nahla saw clients twice a week and devoted the rest of her time to learn the intricacies of social services. Within the first six months Care ‘R’ Us enrolled 600 children in the Healthy Families Program. Four months later, another friend of the organization, Maria Khani, joined in and started volunteering her time by giving direct services to clients in the office. (Maria Khani is still an active member of Access-Cal and founded the family crisis program; she spends over 10 hours a week volunteering in the office to help the community).

With the help of volunteers Care ‘R’ Us 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 Arab-American and Muslim American families with children under 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, Care ‘R’ Us began adding programs that addressed the needs of the community.

In 2004, the agency changed its' name to Access California Services in order to better define its' role as an advocate for women and children, and to help immigrant families make the transitions to their new lives in America. Access-Cal has provided quality services in the Arab-American and Muslim-American Communities in Southern California for over ten years. The Agency relies heavily on feedback and observations of its clientele to determine what programs will best support those in need. Many of our current staff and volunteers were initial clients of the organization, and therefore have firsthand experience with the needs of these Communities. Today Nahla Kayali serves as the Executive Director with Judy Mader as the Chair of the Board.