| Arab American Action Network | |
3148 W. 63rd St. Chicago, IL 60629
773-436-6060
773-436-6460
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| Join Our List |  |
| Staff |
Youth Organizing Program Coordinator
Halima Bahri
Youth Services
Program Coordinator
Muna Hammad
New Americans Initiative/ Citizenship Project
Zaineb Abdulla
Southwest Community Coalition Representative
AmeriCorps Members
Nazly Damasio
Aaisha Durr
Tahany Elian
Besan Quran
Arasele Robles
Muhammad Sankari
Shira Tevah
Laila Younes |
| Board |
Louise Cainkar-Mashrah
Treasurer
Omar Bishtawi
Laila Farah
Ahlam Jbara
Mona Khalidi
Souzan Naser
Ora Schub
Lamees Talhami |
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WE'RE HIRING
The AAAN is hiring a new Family Empowerment Program Coordinator. Read our job description here.
Youth Organizer Gihad Ali Quoted in the Associated Press!
Read the full article here. |
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Upcoming Events
May Day March-Family Unity
Saturday, May 1
1:00 PM; March starts @ 3:00 PM
Union Park, 1501 W. Randolph
Bring your whole family for a day of marching, singing, and prayer. At a time when working families are being torn apart by deportations, we will unite on May 1 to support immigration reform.
Nothing About Us Without Us
Youth Town Hall Conference
Saturday, May 1
12 PM - 4 PM
Illinois Institute of Technology
Hermann Hall/ McCormick Auditorium
3241 S. Federal, Chicago, IL Safety Net Works--a state initiative to address youth violence through engaging and mobilizing youth--is holding a town hall including a live feed conversation with incarceratead youth and a panel discussion on youth in the media. Contact Xavier Williams at 312-793-2745 with general questions, or Zaineb to attend the town hall with us. Read about our youth involvement in Safety Net Works below in "AAAN Updates."
Celebrate Mothers' Day
Wednesday, May 12
10 AM - 1 PM
Freedom Park
6252 Birmingham Street
Chicago Ridge, IL
Join the Arab Women's Committee in celebrating Mothers' Day. Bring your favorite dish and your family, and enjoy fun games and activities in the park.
Contact Rasmea for more information.
Arabic Story Time
Friday, May 14, 4:00 PM
Green Hills Library, 8611 W. 103rd St.
Palos Hills, IL
Contact Halima with questions.
Arab American Service Day
As we continue to hear about the hardships individuals, families, and
communities are experiencing, people across the nation are looking for
ways to become involved and provide hope. By supporting the 6th Annual National Arab American Service Day on May 15, 2010, you can be one of those people.
Last year, more than 1,500 volunteers in 19 cities across the country gathered within and outside the Arab American community. Arab Americans and non-Arabs alike joined together to serve special needs children and seniors, deliver food packages, build new homes, and more.
We need you to make this year's Service Day a success. Your gift of just $10, $25, $50, $100 or any amount will cover the expenses and ensure we can strengthen our communities, build civic participation in our neighborhoods, and form a foundation for the future. Make a donation here. You can make a difference!
Whether or not you are able to donate, please join the AAAN in making our neighborhood more beautiful by mulching trees with the Park District in Marquette Park. Lunch will be provided!
Saturday, May 15, 2010
10:00 AM - 1:30 P.M.
Marquette Park: 67th & Kedzie
To register or for more information, contact Shira.
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AAAN Updates=========================================
The 8th Day Center for Justice, a Catholic organization committed to "act as a critical alternative voice to oppressive systems and to work actively to change those sytems," visited the AAAN April 9 as part of "Urban Plunge," an annual five-day program for participants to learn about the "systemic problems that plague urban communities" and to think about solutions. AAAN's Muhammad Sankari spoke on the challenges Arabs face in America and coordinators each spoke about their programs.
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AAAN staff attended Senator Dick Durbin's rally for comprehensive immigration reform downtown the morning of April 10. Over 1,200 people called for the U.S. Senate to introduce a bi-partisan bill by
April 30.
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AAAN board member Louise Cainkar was honored by CAIR-Chicago for "Courage in Scholarship" at its annual event April 10.
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The Alliance of Young Women Activists (AYWA) had a potluck-style picnic outing in Tampier Park on Sunday, April 11. AYWA is founded on four "pillars": personal, social, political, and service. Fulfilling the second, the women played sports and enjoyed the somewhat sunny weather. For service, check out March of Dimes below.
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For ten years, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) has supported organizations in immigrant communities providing services like teaching English and working with domestive violence victims. ICIRR celebrated 10 years of the Immigrant Family Resource Program on April 12 with an ethnic news media briefing.
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AAAN's display at Oak Lawn Library was up until the end of April. We received positive feedback from viewers!
Check out more pictures here.
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AAAN joined the International Human Relations Council April 16 for a block party at 63rd and Spaulding, promoting free social services, meeting other organizations, and dancing some debka.
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AAAN youth organizers visited Marquette University on April 15. Hosted by the Muslim Students Association, they spoke to Professor and AAAN board member Louise Cainkar's class and guest-starred at an open mic spoken word night in a campus coffee shop.
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Several dozen youth from AAAN and other Southwest Community Coalition groups took a bus to Springfield April 22, where they joined youth from all over Chicago and Illinois in asking the state to continue to fund Safety Networks, a Department of Human Services initiative with a "preventive and rehabilitative approach to addressing youth violence." Youth spoke with state senators including Jacqueline Collins and Martin Sandoval. "I think the politicians were surprised to see so many youth here," said Southwest Communities Coalition Project Coordinator Kedar Coleman, "and really heard what we had to say."
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AAAN's after-school Stevenson Elementary program took a field trip to the University of Chicago on April 22. The Muslim Students Association led the students on a tour of campus. Visiting the Oriental Institute, the Regenstein Library, and the campus gym, they learned about college life at one of the nation's top universities.
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AAAN youth organized and hosted Never Silent Cafe at the office on April 24. After promoting through Facebook and sidewalk chalk, the turnout was high.
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The Alliance of Young Women Activists participated in the March of Dimes, a walk to benefit premature babies, on April 25. Despite the pouring rain, thousands of people walked the 10K along the lakefront in good spirits. |
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Benefitting the Community | |
AAAN Caseworkers advocate for their clients, friends, neighbors at public aid offices
 Last Friday afternoon, Samira Ahmad's phone
rang. It was a client calling about her upcoming wedding, both to
invite her and to ask about the proper way to file a change of address
with the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS). "Just give me
the new address and I'll change it for you," Ahmad said. "I won't be at
the wedding because I'll be gone, but I'll watch the video." Hanging
up, she noted, "I have too many clients who consider me a friend."
Ahmad is the lead case manager at the
Arab American Action Network. Her role is to help people fill out
applications for public benefits, including cash assistance, food
stamps, and medical cards. Instead of going directly to the aid office,
they can come to AAAN and Ahmad will fill out the paperwork with them,
make copies of their documents, and mail it over to IDHS. For clients
who feel intimidated by the often hectic and unwelcoming atmosphere of
the public aid office-including immigrants who experience language and
cultural barriers-this free service, funded by the Illinois Coalition
for Immigrant and Refugee Rights' (ICIRR's) Immigrant Family Resource
Program (IFRP) and the IDHS, is particularly useful. Ahmad spends one
morning a week at each of two different aid offices-one suburban and
one in the city-where she acts as an advocate for her clients and as an
Arabic language interpreter and translator.
Ahmad has been at
the AAAN for 6 years. She came to the U.S. in 1986 from Palestine,
where she had worked at a bank. In 1992, she entered the green card
lottery and was one of the first of 6 million people to be approved for
permanent residency. She guesses she's seen four or five thousand
public benefits clients, 98% of whom have been Arab, and the rest Black
and Latino.
Read More.
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 The Arab American Action Network (AAAN) strives to strengthen the Arab community in the Chicago area by building its capacity to be an active agent for positive social change. As a grassroots nonprofit, our strategies include community organizing, advocacy, education, providing social services, leadership development, cultural outreach and forging productive relationships with other communities. | |
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