About Us

ACCESS is dedicated to empowering and enabling individuals, families, and communities to lead informed, productive, culturally sensitive and fulfilling lives.

ACCESS has been serving the community for more than 40 years. Started by a group of volunteers in 1971 out of a storefront in Dearborn’s impoverished south end, ACCESS was created to assist the Arab immigrant population adapt to life in the United States.

Today, ACCESS is the largest Arab American human services nonprofit in the United States. With eight locations and more than 100 programs serving metro Detroit, ACCESS offers a wide range of services to a diverse population.

ACCESS continues to honor its Arab American heritage while serving as a nonprofit model of excellence – an organization dedicated to community-building, focused on service to those in need, an advocate for cultural and social entrepreneurship, and the values of community service, health, education and philanthropy.

Through initiatives like the Arab American National Museum (AANM), the National Network of Arab American Communities (NNAAC), and the Center for Arab American Philanthropy, ACCESS serves all Americans.

To learn more about us, read our history.

ACCESS strength rests with the strength of our community. We are able to assist, improve and empower our community thanks to the generosity of our supporters. Find out more about how you can help us change lives today, and build a legacy for tomorrow.

Mission & Vision

Our Vision

Our vision for ACCESS is to be an organization of people who are dedicated to empowering and enabling individuals, families, and communities to lead informed, productive, culturally sensitive, and fulfilling lives.

We see ACCESS as a vibrant organization that honors its Arab American heritage while serving as a nonprofit model of excellence as a social service agency. We see ACCESS as an organization dedicated to the support of community building, actively focused on service to those in need within the broader community, to newly arrived immigrants, and as a strong advocate for cultural and social entrepreneurship, as well as the values of community service, healthy lifestyles, education, and philanthropy.

Our Mission

ACCESS is a nonprofit agency committed to advocating for and empowering individuals, families, and communities. ACCESS provides a wide range of health and human services, employment services, youth programs, educational and cultural programs and civic engagement, advocacy, and social entrepreneurship services.

Our Mission Intent

ACCESS will provide a wide range of health and human services, employment services, youth programs, educational and cultural programs and civic engagement, advocacy, and social entrepreneurship services.

Departments & Services

Youth & Education: By fostering our youth to grow and become leaders, we are paving the way for a brighter future for tomorrow. Youth & Education has something to offer both the youth and their families from after school tutoring and summer academies to ESL classes and parenting education.

Social Services: Whether it’s helping immigrants adjust to life here in the U.S., or helping life long citizens living stable lives, Social Services is the bread and butter of ACCESS. From emergency services to advocacy work, our comprehensive network of services is designed to enhance individual and family life.

Employment & Training: At ACCESS’ OneStopEmployment & TrainingCenter we link the right people with the right jobs. Our goal is to promote self-sufficiency and to assist people in achieving their fullest potential through our work training programs.

Arab AmericanNational Museum: Open since 2005, the AANM is the first and only museum in the world devoted to Arab American history and culture. The AANM helps to preserve these rich cultures of Arab Americans through educational workshops and cultural exhibits.

National Outreach: Home of National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC), a network of 22 nationwide independent Arab American social service organizations, the National Outreach Department continues to build a network of volunteers that serve and advocate for the Arab American community.

The Center for Arab-American Philanthropy (CAAP): promotes, facilitates and celebrates Arab-American giving through education, training and donor outreach and services. CAAP is the only program in the country harnessing the collective power of Arab-American giving and knowledge to strengthen the voice of our community in American civil society.

Community Health & Research Center: Offering a wide array of programs from breast cancer screening and child health care, to victims of crime and refugee health assessment, the CommunityHealth & ResearchCenter offers over 45 programs. ACCESS believes it is important to provide services in medical health and research, mental, family counseling services and environment programs to promote overall health.

Biographies

Hassan Jaber is Executive Director of ACCESS. Previously, he served as Chief Operating Officer of ACCESS.

During his tenure, Jaber has helped transform ACCESS from a storefront organization into the largest Arab American organization in the country. He has been responsible for developing various social and legal programs, and administering the organization’s immigration and advocacy services. He is a major proponent for the advancement of ACCESS’ development in the departments of mental and community health, employment services and job training, and his avid support for ushering in the next generation has helped to expand ACCESS’ youth and education services. Jaber’s commitment and dedication has grown ACCESS into an organization that now provides more than 100 different economic and social service programs.

Jaber’s roles at ACCESS vary from community and government relations, strategic planning and analysis, fundraising and developing and implementation of personnel policies. He now manages an operating budget of more than $17 million.

Born in Lebanon in 1956, Jaber immigrated to the United States in 1977. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics in 1987 and a Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) in 1993, both from Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich. He is fluent in Arabic and English.

Jaber’s board memberships and affiliations include: the Henry Ford Hospital and Health Network Board of Trustees; Arab American Institute, National Leadership Board; the American Arab Chamber of Commerce, which he co-founded in 1992; State of Michigan Commissioner, Quality Community Care Council; US-Arab Economic Forum, Steering Committee; University of Michigan Dearborn, Citizens Advisory Committee; New Detroit The Coalition, Board of Directors, Cultural Exchange Network Chair & Immigration Task Force Group Chair; 2008 Independent Sector Annual Conference Program Committee Member; 2009 Independent Sector Annual Conference Program Committee Member; 2009 Independent Sector Host Committee; Participating Member of the US-Belgium Cultural Crossing Project; and Ford Foundation, Innovation Workshop on Engaging Unheard Voices in Foreign Policy Steering Committee.

Jaber is frequently interviewed by local and national media, including National Public Radio, the BBC, Newsweek, CNN, Fox 2 News, The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press, and acts as a consultant on the Arab American community.

A lecturer and teacher, Jaber has taught Arabic language and culture at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. In addition, he has lectured at various venues on topics including: “Factors of the Arab American Community in the Detroit Area”, “The Demographic Profile of Detroit’s Arab American Community”, “The Social and Economic Needs of Arab Americans in Detroit”, “Media and the Stereotyping of Arab Americans”, and “Conflicts in the Middle East.”

Maha Freij is Deputy Executive Director & Chief Financial Officer of ACCESS.

A graduate of the Hebrew University with a bachelor’s in accounting and economics, Freij was the first Arab/Palestinian woman to earn a CPA license in Israel in 1989 - the same year she immigrated to the United States.

As ACCESS CFO, Freij oversees a budget of more than $17 million from more than 100 funding sources. Thanks to her visionary leadership, ACCESS has successfully raised more than $30 million in the last decade for endowment building and brick-and-mortar projects, including the first-ever Arab American National Museum in the U.S.

Freij’s greatest contribution at ACCESS has been the creation of a larger vision for philanthropy, both within ACCESS and the Arab American community. During her tenure and especially in the last 10 years, Freij has spearheaded the institutionalization of a sophisticated development strategy at ACCESS. She has assembled a strong team of staff and volunteers who continue to grow and expand ACCESS’ fundraising capacity, to support its more than 100 programs.

Freij is a national leader who helps introduce and broaden strategic philanthropic practices in the community through the Center for Arab American Philanthropy. As a founder of CAAP she is instrumental in the vision of the only national Arab American philanthropy program in the country, strengthening Arab American giving by establishing charitable legacies through education, grantmaking and endowment building.

Freij’s board memberships and affiliations include Mosaic Youth Theatre; ACLU-Michigan; and United Palestinian Appeal.

Awards include: American Task Force for Palestine, Distinguished Service in Philanthropy Award, 2011; Arab American Association of New York, Community Service Award, 2010; Arab American Heritage Council, Community Leader of the Year Award, 2010; Alternatives for Girls, Role Model Award, 2005; Crain's Detroit Business, Best Managed Non-Profit Organization, 2000; New Detroit, Inc., Richard Fisher Fiscal Integrity Award, 1996.