10 March 2011

Yemeni Americans Pillar of Support for Michigan Community

The Yemen American Benevolent Association has served the community for more than 40 years.

By M. Scott Bortot
Staff Writer

Washington — The few Yemeni immigrants who organized in 1969 just wanted a place of their own. But their effort has become a well-organized, vital resource for thousands in the larger Arab-American community and other residents of Dearborn, Michigan.

The Yemen American Benevolent Association, known as YABA, provides social services to low-income residents and Arab immigrants in Dearborn. It serves 5,000 residents annually through scholarship programs, English and Arabic courses, and translation and job-placement services. As with many community-based organizations in America, most of YABA’s services are free.

Ali Baleed Almaklani said that when he arrived in Dearborn in the 1960s, Yemenis needed a meeting space in the community. “I saw that people were gathering in coffeehouses because they didn’t have anywhere else to go as a Yemeni American, in terms of a building or an association,” Almaklani said.

So he and other Yemenis planned a center and drafted a set of bylaws. Almaklani became the group’s first president, and today he serves as its executive director.

YABA built its center and developed a role in the Arab community early on. Another group, the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS), which was founded in 1971, faced a disaster two years later when its storefront office in Dearborn’s low-income South End burned down.

YABA came to the group’s aid. Ismael Ahmed, a founder of ACCESS and former director of Michigan’s Department of Human Services, remembers how YABA gave ACCESS office space in its new building without charge for several years.

“That is the kind of group they are,” Ahmed said. “They really have been very giving and supportive of the larger Arab-American community and the community as a whole.”

Ahmed said groups such as YABA help newcomers find their footing in America.

“I think that supportive, immigrant fraternal groups that help the larger community help people to integrate into society,” Ahmed said. “I think they also provide a safe haven for new immigrants to forge out and learn about society, and they also provide direct aid that helps them out as well.”

The Arabic classes and the program for English as a second language are among YABA’s most popular. More than 200 students — Arabs and non-Arabs — enroll annually in the Arabic program, and several dozen study English. YABA works with ACCESS, the largest Arab-American social service organization, for some of its tutoring and after-school programs.

Fahd Saleh, YABA’s president, said the association strives to find innovative fundraising strategies to cover the cost of its programs. He said the people in the community have increasing needs, but the needs are “being met by good planning.” He points to dedicated volunteers as one reason for the association’s continued success. “We have high hopes with new and dedicated staff members, many of whom are younger than our association,” Saleh said.

YABA’s major fundraising is an annual dinner. At last year’s dinner, Michigan State Representative Rashida Tlaib and Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly praised the association for its decades of community service. “What I appreciate is, while the Yemen American Benevolent Association really does try to provide direct service to the community that is its primary service, it is engaged and active as a member of our greater community,” O’Reilly said. The mayor said that YABA brings Arab Americans’ voices to his attention and the attention of others in government.

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)