Our Founder & Executive Director’s Story

It all began with a dream of coming to Los Angeles. I grew up in Syria living as a Palestinian refugee and I always fantasized about moving to the United States after watching episodes of “The Mod Squad.” The thrill, the excitement, the glamor – I wanted all of it!

My dream came to life when I received a marriage proposal at the age of 16. It was the ticket I needed to move to the United States so naturally I eagerly accepted. Without finishing high school and leaving school at 9th grade, I packed my bags, excited to begin a new life in my dream country.

Years down the line, unfortunately my marriage came to an end and I found myself a single mom to three children, living as an immigrant in a foreign country. It was overwhelming. I felt like I needed to speak to someone about the challenges and hardship I was enduring. Divorce continued to have a great deal of stigma in the community and I had no one to speak to. I sought comfort at a local mosque but I felt like I was not receiving the emotional support I needed. I decided to visit a mainstream therapist but she did not understand my culture or my background and I just could not connect. Receiving counseling became so hard and I gave up. I thought of my fellow community members within the Arab-American and Muslim population who were also struggling. What if they too, were missing out on vital services, because of language and cultural barriers?

Limited access to services caused a great deal of stress in my life. As I was still navigating the system to find myself help, I also needed to make sure my children were insured with health coverage. As a result of my divorce, I lost my family’s health insurance and I needed to take my eight year old daughter, Dina to a free clinic. While I was there, I came across a pamphlet for the Healthy Families program. I had no idea this was even an option for my children. This was my second sign that I needed to do something for my community. I needed to make sure my community members also had access to resources, information, and services.

It was during these dark moments that I promised myself to find a solution. I had a vision of establishing an organization that would serve my community with needed services, but in a culturally and linguistically sensitive manner.

It was quite the journey of discovery as I worked to bring this vision to life. How do I start? Where do I start? I had so many questions but I was determined. I decided to start by visiting the public library where I checked out the book “How to Start a Non-Profit in California,” – this book was my vehicle to begin the process. It took countless nights of studying and as I learned, I started networking with different non-profit organizations to understand more about how they brought services to their communities. I started learning the non-profit language by sitting with different Executive Directors, Program and Fund Development Directors, and case workers to understand the system. My networking led me to one transformative kick-off meeting at the Orange County Board of Supervisors regarding health access where I was able to meet a Program Director, Judy Mader from Community Development Council (CDC) which is now Community Action Partnership of Orange County (CAPOC). During this meeting, I was able to share with Judy the needs of the refugee communities and how they are underserved and need culturally sensitive services. My feedback resonated with her and she suggested I come to CDC after I establish my non-profit.

In 1998, I was thrilled to have finally launched the non-profit organization I had envisioned. Initially, the first name of the organization was CareRUs which later down the road became Access California Services. As soon as I received the 501 (c)(3) status, I remembered to visit my friend at CDC.

I went to them and reminded how the Arab-American and Muslim community was underserved, and their team believed in my vision, and granted me my first $2,000 grant, which served as seed money to begin serving my community.

It was a humble amount, but it came with a great deal of hope, motivation, and a vision to serve. I started serving the community with a borrowed telephone and folding table from home, and milk crate to begin storing paperwork. I worked out of a very small one-room office in the heart of the community—paying just $150 a month in rent—where I began to build a name for this organization. I knew that to bring resources for my community, I had to be present at different tables. This is why I became an advocate in the sphere of mental health, immigration, health access, workforce, the Census, transportation, domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, family reunification, homelessness, food security, older adults, and much more.

I became active on diverse advisory boards and boards of directors at Federal, State, County and City levels for the purpose of making our community voice heard. It was a humble amount, but it came with a great deal of hope, motivation, and a vision to serve. I started serving the community with a borrowed telephone and folding table from home, and milk crate to begin storing paperwork. I worked out of a very small one-room office in the heart of the community where I began to build a name for this organization. I knew that to bring resources for my community, I had to be present at different tables. This is why I became an advocate in the sphere of mental health, immigration, health access, workforce, the Census, transportation, domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, family reunification, homelessness, food security, older adults, and much more. I became active on diverse advisory boards and boards of directors at Federal, State, County and City levels for the purpose of making our community voice heard.

Through the work of board members, staff, volunteers and interns, partnerships, needs assessments, research, and grants, the story of AccessCal began to unfold and we have been able to witness a journey from a folding table and chair to a dream come true community center for our community.

Nahla’s story is featured in the book titled “Leadership with Impact: Preparing Health and Human Service Practitioners in the Age of Innovation and Diversity,” authored by Juan Carlos Araque and Eugenia L. Weiss, professors at the University of Southern California (USC). This book is currently being referred to by USC’s Master of Social Work Program. Thousands of copies have been sold worldwide, and the book is presently being translated into multiple languages.

We’re incredibly proud to share that our Founder & Executive Director, Nahla Kayali, is featured for the second time in the influential book Leadership with Impact co-authored by University of Southern California (USC)’s teaching professor Dr. Juan Carlos Araque. Her continued recognition as a transformational leader reflects her unwavering commitment to uplifting communities through innovation and compassion.

During a special visit to AccessCal, Dr. Araque personally signed a copy of the book—making this milestone even more memorable for our team.

Check out Amazon or Barnes & Noble to purchase your own copy!

Nahla Kayali’s Current and Previous Appointments

Refugee Forum of Orange County, Chairwoman
State Advisory Council on Refugee Assistance and Services (SAC), Refugee Forum Seat
California Department of Public Health – Office of Health Equity (OHE) Advisory Committee
Mental Health Services Accountability & Oversight Committee – Cultural & Linguistic Competency Advisory Committee
Community Action Partnership of Orange County (CAPOC)
The Orange County Food Bank
Chief’s Advisory Board (CAB) Anaheim Police Department
Mental Health Services Act Steering Committee (MHSA)
Arab American Institute (AAI)
National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC) Advisory Council
Covered Orange County Steering Committee (Affordable Care Act/Obamacare)
University of California Irvine – Department of Clinical and Translational Science – Community Action Planning Group
Citizens Advisory Committee for the Orange County Transportation Authority
The Public Health Board at the Department of Health Sciences at California State University, Fullerton
Southern California Edison Advisory Committee
Community Health Council for Covering Kids and Families Statewide
Orange County Certified Applicant Assistant Taskforce
Orange County Human Trafficking Taskforce
Orange County Financial Stability Committee, United Way
United States Census Bureau – California Complete Count Committee 2010 & Orange County for 2020
United Way Health Council of Orange County
Health Consumer Action Center of Legal Aid Society of Orange County